This project uses neuroimaging to enrich our understanding of the impact of negative aging stereotypes on cognitive performance in older adults - a phenomenon known as stereotype threat. We will identify task-related brain activity associated with stereotype threat, and the extent to which individual beliefs in memory ability, stereotype self-relevance, and anxiety mediate these neural effects. We also will test two hypothesized mechanisms of threat, using traditional fMRI methods and novel pattern classifier techniques. This project will inform theories of ageist stereotype threat at the psychological and neural level, which is critical for disentangling the effects of aging-related neural decline and social factors on brain activity. The impact of stereotype threat on cognitive tests has significan public health implications, not only for cognitive functioning in daily life, but because cognitive tests are used to diagnose the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease. To the extent that threat impairs performance on these tests, an individual's true cognitive ability would be underestimated. In our study, cognitively normal older adults will be explicitly exposed to negative stereotypes about aging memory (threat condition) or a positive, age-fair framing of the task (control condition). Next, during fMRI, they will take a recollection task known to be sensitive to aging stereotype threat effects. The neural mechanisms of stereotype threat will be determined by directly comparing brain activity between the threat and control groups, as well as comparisons to brain activity in younger adult groups that are tested in conditions that simulate the cognitive processes thought to drive stereotype threat. In determining which neural mechanisms drive stereotype threat in aging populations, we hope to minimize the negative impact of ageist stereotypes on older adults, in daily cognitive routines and in medical settings where cognitive tests are used for diagnosis.
This research studies ageist stereotype effects on cognition, using psychological measures and neuroimaging to identify the causes of stereotype effects in different people. Understanding stereotypes can help individuals avoid them, thereby increasing the well-being of older adults.
