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Effects of a memory-minimizing strategy on individual differences in neural activity during consumer decision making in older age

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Louis J. Giacalone¹ (), Christina Yu¹, Eric J. Juarez¹, Joanna Salerno¹, Kennedy A. Black¹, Elizabeth J. Marsh¹, Felipe De Brigard¹, Roberto Cabeza¹, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin¹; ¹Duke University

This study examines individual differences in functional neural activity between a subset of older adults who either did or did not spontaneously adopt a memory-reducing strategy in a decision-making task. Healthy adults from the community completed a memory-based consumer decision task, in which they were asked to memorize product ratings and choose the best option. A subset of older adult participants (N=10) spontaneously adopted a strategy whereby they summed ratings and made decisions based on fewer bits of information, thus reducing demands on memory. A matched group of participants (N=10) who did not use this strategy and instead maintained multiple (un-summed) ratings in memory were selected for group comparisons of neural activity during decision making using fMRI. Whole-brain analyses revealed a group by memory interaction in bilateral triangular portions of the inferior frontal gyrus extending into the middle frontal gyrus. Memory related activation was greater in these regions for participants who held more information in memory compared to those who adopted the strategy. In a small sample of participants, this study identifies preliminary evidence for reduced memory-related neural activation in lateral frontal cortical regions in a subset of older adults who employed a shortcut to make memory-based consumer decisions. When cognitive demands increase in decision-making tasks, some older adults may discover shortcuts that disengage neural memory systems.

Topic Area: THINKING: Development & aging