ABSTRACT

Older adults (OA) evaluate faces to be more trustworthy than do younger adults (YA), yet the processes supporting these more positive evaluations are unclear. This study identified neural mechanisms spontaneously engaged during face perception that differentially relate to OA’ and YA’ later trustworthiness evaluations. We examined two mechanisms: salience (reflected by amygdala activation) and reward (reflected by caudate activation) – both of which are implicated in evaluating trustworthiness. We emphasized the salience and reward value of specific faces by having OA and YA evaluate ingroup male White and outgroup Black and Asian faces. Participants perceived faces during fMRI and made trustworthiness evaluations after the scan. OA rated White and Black faces as more trustworthy than YA. OA had a stronger positive relationship between caudate activity and trustworthiness than YA when perceiving ingroup, but not outgroup, faces. Ingroup cues might intensify how trustworthiness is rewarding to OA, potentially reinforcing their overall positivity.

摘要

老年人 (OA) 认为面孔比年轻人 (YA) 更值得信赖，但支持这些更积极评价的过程尚不清楚。本研究确定了在面部感知过程中自发参与的神经机制，这些神经机制与 OA' 和 YA' 后来的可信度评估不同。我们检查了两种机制：显着性（由杏仁核激活反映）和奖励（由尾状核激活反映）——这两者都与评估可信度有关。我们通过让 OA 和 YA 评估内群男性白人和外群黑人和亚洲人面孔来强调特定面孔的显着性和奖励价值。参与者在功能磁共振成像期间感知面部，并在扫描后进行可信度评估。OA 认为白人和黑人面孔比 YA 更值得信赖。在感知内群而非外群面孔时，OA 在尾状核活动和可信度之间具有比 YA 更强的正相关关系。内群线索可能会加强可信赖性对 OA 的回报，可能会增强他们的整体积极性。