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Reconciling age-related changes in behavioural and neural indices of human perceptual decision-making

Nature Human Behaviour volume 2, pages 955–966 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Ageing impacts on decision-making behaviour across a range of cognitive tasks and scenarios. Computational modelling has proved valuable in providing mechanistic interpretations of these age-related differences; however, the extent to which model parameter differences accurately reflect changes to the underlying neural computations remains unclear. Here, we report that age-related effects on neural signatures of decision formation are inconsistent with behavioural fits derived from a prominent accumulation-to-bound model. Most notably, model-predicted bound differences were absent neurophysiologically. However, constraining the model to match the decision-predictive elements of the brain signals provided more parsimonious fits to behaviour and generated predictions regarding the neural data that were empirically validated. These included a task-dependent slowing of evidence accumulation among older adults and reduced between-trial accumulation rate variability, which was linked to enhanced attentional engagement. Our findings highlight how combining neurophysiological measurements with computational modelling can yield unique insights into group differences in neural decision mechanisms.

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Fig. 1: Random dot motion task and associated behaviour.
Fig. 2: Comparison of diffusion model fits to motion discrimination data with free-to-vary and constrained decision boundary.
Fig. 3: During motion discrimination, older adults (N = 31) exhibit a slower rate of evidence accumulation relative to younger adults (N = 35), with both age groups displaying similar amplitudes at response.
Fig. 4: Gradual contrast-change detection task and associated behaviour.
Fig. 5: Comparison of diffusion model fits to contrast-change detection data with free-to-vary and constrained decision boundary and drift rate.
Fig. 6: Sensory encoding, decision formation and motor preparation signals exhibit similar dynamics in younger and older participants (both N = 38) on the contrast-change detection task.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of the study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (to R.G.O.C.) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 638289), by a Science Foundation Ireland ERC Support Grant (to R.G.O.C.) and an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship (to A.H.). S.P.K. is supported by a Career Development Award from Science Foundation Ireland (15/CDA/3591). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: David P. McGovern, Aoife Hayes.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    David P. McGovern, Aoife Hayes & Redmond G. O’Connell

  2. School of Nursing and Human Sciences, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    David P. McGovern

  3. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Simon P. Kelly

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Contributions

R.G.O.C., S.P.K. and A.H. conceived and designed the experiments. A.H. collected the data. D.P.M. analysed the data and fitted the models. D.P.M., R.G.O.C. and S.P.K. wrote the manuscript; all authors approved the final version.

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Correspondence to David P. McGovern.

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McGovern, D.P., Hayes, A., Kelly, S.P. et al. Reconciling age-related changes in behavioural and neural indices of human perceptual decision-making. Nat Hum Behav 2, 955–966 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0465-6

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