Gender-Specific Differences in the Relationship between Autobiographical Memory and Intertemporal Choice in Older Adults

Seinstra, Maayke; Grzymek, Katharina; Kalenscher, Tobias

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0137061

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to detect an association between autobiographical memory details and temporal discounting. Previous studies found no association between overall autobiographical memory richness and discount rate (Bromberg et al, 2015;Seinstra et al, 2015). By using a composite measure of internal (episodic) details, though, these studies may have masked the finding that discounting may be related to only select types of details.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Not only might autobiographical memory retrieval be more directly relevant to intertemporal decision-making, but the quality of autobiographical memories changes over the lifespan, becoming more schematic in healthy older adults (Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, & Moscovitch, 2002). So far, studies that have investigated the link between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting have yielded null results (Bromberg, Wiehler, & Peters, 2015;Seinstra, Grzymek, & Kalenscher, 2015). It is possible, however, that these studies failed to detect an association because they used a composite measure of episodic details.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Links between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting in older adults

Lempert

MacNear

Wolk

et al. 2019

Preprint

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AbstractWhen making choices between smaller, sooner rewards and larger, later ones, people tend to discount or devalue future outcomes. This propensity can be maladaptive, especially as individuals age and their decisions about health, investments, and relationships become increasingly consequential. Individual differences in temporal discounting in older adults have been associated with episodic memory abilities, as well as with cortical thickness in the entorhinal cortex. The mechanism by which better memory might lead to more future-oriented choice remains unclear, however. Here we used a fine-grained measure of autobiographical memory richness (Autobiographical Interview scoring protocol) to examine which categories of episodic details are associated with temporal discounting in cognitively normal older adults. We also examined whether recalling autobiographical memories prior to choice can alter temporal discounting in this group. Time, place, and perceptual details, but not event or emotion/thought details, were associated with temporal discounting. Furthermore, time, place, and perceptual details and temporal discount rates were associated with entorhinal cortical thickness. Retrieving autobiographical memories prior to choice did not affect temporal discounting overall, but the extent to which the memories were rich in event and time details predicted whether they would reduce discounting after they were recalled. Thus, more future-oriented decision-makers may have more contextual (i.e., time, place, and perceptual) details in their recollections overall, and retrieving central event details at the time of choice may shift decisions toward being more patient. These findings will help with the development of interventions to nudge intertemporal choices, especially in older adults with memory decline.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Links between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting in older adults

Lempert

MacNear

Wolk

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…One previous correlational study conducted with healthy older adults found that global cognition was associated with temporal discounting, but episodic and semantic memory composite scores were not (Boyle et al, 2012). Another study that investigated the relationship between episodic memory ability and temporal discounting in older adults also yielded null results (Seinstra et al, 2015). These two studies, however, included only cognitively normal older adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…These two studies, however, included only cognitively normal older adults. Furthermore, one of these studies (Seinstra et al, 2015) focused primarily on associative recognition and autobiographical memory recall, which may be less impacted by aging compared to free recall and episodic retrieval, respectively (Schroots et al, 2004;Howard et al, 2006). In the other study (Boyle et al, 2012), the episodic memory measure did not distinguish between immediate and delayed recall.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural and behavioral correlates of episodic memory are associated with temporal discounting in older adults

Lempert

Mechanic‐Hamilton

Xie

et al. 2019

Preprint

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When facing intertemporal choices, or decisions involving trade-offs between smaller, sooner and larger, delayed rewards, people tend to discount the value of future rewards. There are substantial individual differences in this tendency toward temporal discounting, however.The neurocognitive mechanisms underlying these individual differences remain unclear. One possibility is that individual differences in declarative memory ability underlie individual differences in temporal discounting. Here we tested this hypothesis in older adults (both cognitively normal and with mild cognitive impairment), given that declarative memory declines with age, at rates that vary across individuals. We related temporal discounting to performance on neuropsychological measures of declarative memory, as well as to structural measures of medial temporal lobe regions that are critical for memory. Performance on episodic and semantic memory retrieval tasks was associated with temporal discounting, such that people with better declarative memory discounted delayed rewards less. This relationship held even when controlling for executive function abilities that might influence memory retrieval. Underlining the specificity of this association, performance on measures of executive function (Trail Making Test, Digit Span Backwards, lexical fluency) was unrelated to temporal discounting, and declarative memory ability was unrelated to risk preferences. Finally, cortical thickness in the entorhinal cortex was associated with reduced temporal discounting, with declarative memory ability partially mediating this association. These findings suggest that individual differences in temporal discounting are primarily driven by memory ability, and not executive function, and that a decline in medial temporal lobe structural integrity with aging may impact time preferences. Significance statementDespite the large body of literature supporting the role of both declarative memory and executive function in choices between immediate and delayed rewards (intertemporal choices), no study has examined which of these neurocognitive mechanisms underlies individual differences in the tendency to discount future rewards (temporal discounting). This has been challenging given the limited variability in, and high correlation between, these abilities in young adults. Here we show that older adults with better declarative memory discount delayed rewards less, even when controlling for executive function. Moreover, cortical thickness in entorhinal cortex, a region integral to memory processes, is also associated with temporal discounting. This knowledge will aid in the development of interventions to increase patience, especially as memory declines with aging. decrease temporal discounting in young adults (Peters and Büchel, 2010;Benoit et al., 2011;Lempert et al., 2017). The critical memory processes may not be specific to episodic memory, since individuals with semantic dementia, a disorder characterized by a loss of semantic memory, show increased temporal discount...

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“…In order to assess episodic memory richness in the current study, we examined participants' autobiographical memories, which have been shown to vary in how much detail and what kinds of details they contain 32 . So far, studies that have investigated the link between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting have yielded null results 33,34 . It is possible, however, that these studies failed to detect an association because they used a composite measure of episodic details that conflates qualitatively different types of details.…”

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confidence: 99%

Links between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting in older adults

Lempert¹,

MacNear²,

Wolk³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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When making choices between smaller, sooner rewards and larger, later ones, people tend to discount future outcomes. Individual differences in temporal discounting in older adults have been associated with episodic memory abilities and entorhinal cortical thickness. the cause of this association between better memory and more future-oriented choice remains unclear, however. one possibility is that people with perceptually richer recollections are more patient because they also imagine the future more vividly. Alternatively, perhaps people whose memories focus more on the meaning of events (i.e., are more "gist-based") show reduced temporal discounting, since imagining the future depends on interactions between semantic and episodic memory. We examined which categories of episodic details-perception-based or gist-based-are associated with temporal discounting in older adults. older adults whose autobiographical memories were richer in perception-based details showed reduced temporal discounting. furthermore, in an exploratory neuroanatomical analysis, both discount rates and perception-based details correlated with entorhinal cortical thickness. Retrieving autobiographical memories before choice did not affect temporal discounting, however, suggesting that activating episodic memory circuitry at the time of choice is insufficient to alter discounting in older adults. These findings elucidate the role of episodic memory in decision making, which will inform interventions to nudge intertemporal choices. Throughout our lives, we face many intertemporal choices that involve trade-offs between smaller, immediate gains and larger, long-term benefits 1. For example, an individual may have to decide whether or not it is worth paying a fee to withdraw retirement funds early. People generally tend to prefer immediate rewards to delayed ones, and they discount the value of delayed rewards to a greater extent as the delay to receiving them increases. This tendency towards temporal discounting is nearly universal, but the rate at which people discount future rewards varies widely 2,3. Steep temporal discounting, or overvaluing the present at one's long-term expense, is associated with risky behaviors such as alcohol use 4 , gambling 5 , smoking 6,7 , and excessive credit card borrowing 8. Given the substantial negative impact of steep temporal discounting, it is important to understand the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie intertemporal choices, and to use this knowledge to develop interventions that could reduce impatience. The literature on the neural correlates of temporal discounting points to the involvement of valuation regions 9-11 , executive control regions 12-15 and episodic memory regions 16,17 in this choice process. It remains unclear, however, which of these neurocognitive systems underlies individual differences in the tendency to discount future rewards. One neurocognitive system that may support future-oriented intertemporal choices is episodic memory, or context-rich memory for autobiographical events 1...

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Gender-Specific Differences in the Relationship between Autobiographical Memory and Intertemporal Choice in Older Adults

Cited by 10 publications

References 98 publications

Links between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting in older adults

Links between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting in older adults

Neural and behavioral correlates of episodic memory are associated with temporal discounting in older adults

Links between autobiographical memory richness and temporal discounting in older adults

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