Aging & Decision

Breakdown of white-matter pathways affects decisionmaking as we age

April 13, 2012

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Brain scans showing the white-matter pathways involved in everyday learning: Top: the pathway shown in red connects the medial prefrontal cortex to the ventral striatum; bottom: the pathway shown in blue connects the medial prefrontal cortex to the thalamus (credit: Gregory Samanez-Larkin)

A Vanderbilt University brain-mapping study has found that people’s ability to make decisions in novel situations decreases with age and is associated with a reduction in the integrity of two specific white-matter pathways.

The pathways connect an area in the cerebral cortex called the medial prefrontal cortex (involved with decision making) with two other areas deeper in the brain: the thalamus (a highly connected relay center in the brain) and ventral striatum (associated with the emotional and motivational aspects of behavior)./.../