Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study
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 aspect...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Aging Research |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4930385 |
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| author | Alexandra J. Horne Kimberly S. Chiew Jie Zhuang Linda K. George R. Alison Adcock Guy G. Potter Eleonora M. Lad Scott W. Cousins Frank R. Lin Sara K. Mamo Nan-Kuei Chen Abigail J. Maciejewski Xuan Duong Fernandez Heather E. Whitson |
| author_facet | Alexandra J. Horne Kimberly S. Chiew Jie Zhuang Linda K. George R. Alison Adcock Guy G. Potter Eleonora M. Lad Scott W. Cousins Frank R. Lin Sara K. Mamo Nan-Kuei Chen Abigail J. Maciejewski Xuan Duong Fernandez Heather E. Whitson |
| author_sort | Alexandra J. Horne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-24c2240ea4ce4895bd71becaad0882b7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2090-2204 2090-2212 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Aging Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-24c2240ea4ce4895bd71becaad0882b72025-02-03T06:11:11ZengWileyJournal of Aging Research2090-22042090-22122018-01-01201810.1155/2018/49303854930385Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory StudyAlexandra J. Horne0Kimberly S. Chiew1Jie Zhuang2Linda K. George3R. Alison Adcock4Guy G. Potter5Eleonora M. Lad6Scott W. Cousins7Frank R. Lin8Sara K. Mamo9Nan-Kuei Chen10Abigail J. Maciejewski11Xuan Duong Fernandez12Heather E. Whitson13Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USACenter for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USABrain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USADepartment of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USACenter for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USADepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USADepartment of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USADepartment of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USADepartment of Otolaryngology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USADepartment of Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USABrain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USABrain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USABrain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USACenter for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USADespite 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.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4930385 |
| spellingShingle | Alexandra J. Horne Kimberly S. Chiew Jie Zhuang Linda K. George R. Alison Adcock Guy G. Potter Eleonora M. Lad Scott W. Cousins Frank R. Lin Sara K. Mamo Nan-Kuei Chen Abigail J. Maciejewski Xuan Duong Fernandez Heather E. Whitson Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study Journal of Aging Research |
| title | Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study |
| title_full | Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study |
| title_fullStr | Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study |
| title_short | Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons’ Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study |
| title_sort | relating sensory cognitive and neural factors to older persons perceptions about happiness an exploratory study |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4930385 |
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