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Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons' Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Horne, AJ; Chiew, KS; Zhuang, J; George, LK; Adcock, RA; Potter, GG; Lad, EM; Cousins, SW; Lin, FR; Mamo, SK; Chen, N-K; Maciejewski, AJ ...
Published in: J Aging Res
2018

Despite increased rates of disease, disability, and social losses with aging, seniors consistently report higher levels of subjective well-being (SWB), a construct closely related to happiness, than younger adults. In this exploratory study, we utilized an available dataset to investigate how aspects of health commonly deteriorating with age, including sensory (i.e., vision and hearing) and cognitive status, relate to variability in self-described contributors to happiness. Community-dwelling seniors (n = 114) responded to a single-item prompt: "name things that make people happy." 1731 responses were categorized into 13 domains of SWB via structured content analysis. Sensory health and cognition were assessed by Snellen visual acuity, pure-tone audiometry, and in-person administration of the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) battery. A subset of eligible participants (n = 57) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess resting state functional connectivity (FC) within a previously described dopaminergic network associated with reward processing. SWB response patterns were relatively stable across gender, sensory status, and cognitive performance with few exceptions. For example, hearing-impaired participants listed fewer determinants of SWB (13.59 vs. 17.16; p < 0.001) and were less likely to name things in the "special events" category. Participants with a higher proportion of responses in the "accomplishments" domain (e.g., winning, getting good grades) demonstrated increased FC between the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens, regions implicated in reward and motivated behavior. While the framework for determinants of happiness among seniors was largely stable across the factors assessed here, our findings suggest that subtle changes in this construct may be linked to sensory loss. The possibility that perceptions about determinants of happiness might relate to differences in intrinsic connectivity within reward-related brain networks also warrants further investigation.

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Published In

J Aging Res

DOI

ISSN

2090-2204

Publication Date

2018

Volume

2018

Start / End Page

4930385

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • 4206 Public health
  • 4202 Epidemiology
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 1117 Public Health and Health Services
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Horne, A. J., Chiew, K. S., Zhuang, J., George, L. K., Adcock, R. A., Potter, G. G., … Whitson, H. E. (2018). Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons' Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study. J Aging Res, 2018, 4930385. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4930385
Horne, Alexandra J., Kimberly S. Chiew, Jie Zhuang, Linda K. George, R Alison Adcock, Guy G. Potter, Eleonora M. Lad, et al. “Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons' Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study.J Aging Res 2018 (2018): 4930385. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4930385.
Horne AJ, Chiew KS, Zhuang J, George LK, Adcock RA, Potter GG, et al. Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons' Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study. J Aging Res. 2018;2018:4930385.
Horne, Alexandra J., et al. “Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons' Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study.J Aging Res, vol. 2018, 2018, p. 4930385. Pubmed, doi:10.1155/2018/4930385.
Horne AJ, Chiew KS, Zhuang J, George LK, Adcock RA, Potter GG, Lad EM, Cousins SW, Lin FR, Mamo SK, Chen N-K, Maciejewski AJ, Duong Fernandez X, Whitson HE. Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons' Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study. J Aging Res. 2018;2018:4930385.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Aging Res

DOI

ISSN

2090-2204

Publication Date

2018

Volume

2018

Start / End Page

4930385

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • 4206 Public health
  • 4202 Epidemiology
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 1117 Public Health and Health Services
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences