A recent research study conducted by a ‘University of Iowa’ Neuroscientist Dr.Natalie Denburg revealed that significant neuropschychological deficits in older adults generally cause poor decision-making and this state lead them towards the victims of frauds. Such older adults may also experience “disproportionate aging of a brain region critical for decision-making”.

Aging Adults

This research bring a new dimension to this problem and makes an attempt to find ways that could help identify such people who bear high risks of deceiving. “Our research suggests that elders who fall prey to fraudulent advertising are not simply gullible, depressed, lonely or less intelligent. Rather, it is truly more of a medical or neurological problem,” said Dr. Natalie Denburg.

According to this study aging affects judgment and impacts on the decision-making capabilities have wide ranging societal implications. The study aims to find means for combating deceptive advertising targeted at older adults. Many of these persons are particularly vulnerable to such deceptive advertising frauds.

During the older years people have to take several decisions that are critical for life conditions. These decisions generally include health care, housing, investment of retirement income, and allocation of personal wealth.

Once a person’s problems related to such vulnerabilities to frauds have been identified it is easier to for rest of the family members to be more vigilant and implement measures for their protection. In this situation, even a family member could also be involved with the heavy transactions made by an older adult.

Findings of this study reveal that out of the 80 healthy older adults who were involved in this study as a test group, almost 35% to 40% adults who do not have any apparent neurological deficits have poor decision-making abilities.

Researchers adopted a laboratory test method called as the “Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)”.  It is a computerized decision-making test in which participants are required to draw cards from different decks with the aim of maximizing their winnings. Some of these cards decks yield good results in aggregate, while others yield poor outcomes.

Researchers followed the group of people who got poor results in this ‘IGT’ test and conducted successive additional tests on them. It was observed that in addition to their poor performance, this subgroup was more likely to” fall prey to deceptive advertising”.

Researchers then applied a set of real advertisements which were decided to be deceptive and misleading by various authorities and a set of advertisements that were decided as ‘non-deceptive’ advertisements.  Comparative analysis of the results thus obtained clarified that poor decision-makers are also poor in spotting the inconsistencies and picking up on deceptive messages compared to the group of good decision-makers. Poor decision-makers were also found to be much inclined to perform a purchase based on deceptive advertising.

The researchers also measured the amount of palm sweating for each participant. The ICT provides results on autonomic responses, like sweating. This sweating also plays an important role in decision-making. In absence of this indication or in an abnormal behavior situation the responses make an impact on the decision making process of a person.

Good decision-makers generally show different anticipatory responses including the rate of sweating immediately before reaching at a good or a bad choice. Older adults with poor decision-making abilities, on the other hand, show no sweating when taking a decision or reaching at a good or bad choice.

The groups of patients which performed poorly on the IGT and indicated abnormal bodily responses to the test were determined as the people with acquired damage to the ‘Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (VMPC)’. It is an area of the brain that is critical for good decision-making.

Researchers also conducted preliminary analysis of the structural imaging data and this indicates that “there are physical differences between the brains of poor decision-makers and those of the good decision-makers” said Dr. Natalie Denburg.

The researchers expect that with an enhanced understanding of the neurological basis for impaired decision-making could be helpful in finding potential medications.

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