Neurobehavioral Mechanisms Influencing the Association Between Generativity, the Desire to Promote Well-Being of Younger Generations, and Purpose in Life in Older Adults at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease

The PREVENT-AD Research Group, Caitlin S. Walker, Linda Li, Giulia Baracchini, Jennifer Tremblay-Mercier, R. Nathan Spreng, Maiya R. Geddes, Paul Aisen, Elena Anthal, Melissa Appleby, Pierre Bellec, Fatiha Benbouhoud, Véronique Bohbot, Jason Brandt, John C.S. Breitner, Céline Brunelle, Mallar Chakravarty, Laksanun Cheewakriengkrai, Louis Collins, Doris CoutureSuzanne Craft, Mahsa Dadar, Leslie Ann Daoust, Samir Das, Marina Dauar-Tedeschi, Doris Dea, Nicole Desrochers, Sylvie Dubuc, Guerda Duclair, Marianne Dufour, Mark Eisenberg, Rana El-Khoury, Pierre Etienne, Alan Evans, Anne Marie Faubert, Fabiola Ferdinand, Vladimir Fonov, David Fontaine, Renaud Francoeur, Joanne Frenette, Guylaine Gagné, Serge Gauthier, Maiya R. Geddes, Valérie Gervais, Renuka Giles, Julie Gonneaud, Renee Gordon, Claudia Greco, Rick Hoge, Louise Hudon, Yasser Ituria-Medina, Justin Kat, Christina Kazazian, Stephanie Kligman, Penelope Kostopoulos, Anne Labonté, Marie Elyse Lafaille-Magnan, Tanya Lee, Jeannie Marie Leoutsakos, Illana Leppert, Cécile Madjar, Laura Mahar, Jean Robert Maltais, Axel Mathieu, Sulantha Mathotaarachchi, Ginette Mayrand, Melissa McSweeney, Pierre François Meyer, Diane Michaud, Justin Miron, John C. Morris, Gerhard Multhaup, Lisa Marie Münter, Vasavan Nair, Jamie Near, Holly Newbold-Fox, Nathalie Nilsson, Véronique Pagé, Tharick A. Pascoal, Mirela Petkova, Cynthia Picard, Alexa Pichet Binette, Galina Pogossova, Judes Poirier, Natasha Rajah, Jordana Remz, Pierre Rioux, Pedro Rosa-Neto, Mark A. Sager, Eunice Farah Saint-Fort, Mélissa Savard, Jean Paul Soucy, Reisa A. Sperling, Nathan Spreng, Frederic St-Onge, Christine Tardif, Louise Théroux, Ronald G. Thomas, Paule Joanne Toussaint, Jennifer Tremblay-Mercier, Miranda Tuwaig, Etienne Vachon-Presseau, Isabelle Vallée, Vinod Venugopalan, Sylvia Villeneuve, Simon Ducharme, Karen Wan, Seqian Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objectives: Generativity, the desire and action to improve the well-being of younger generations, is associated with purpose in life among older adults. However, the neurobehavioral factors supporting the relationship between generativity and purpose in life remain unknown. This study aims to identify the functional neuroanatomy of generativity and mechanisms linking generativity with purpose in life in at-risk older adults. Methods: Fifty-eight older adults (mean age = 70.8, SD = 5.03, 45 females) with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) were recruited from the PREVENT-AD cohort. Participants underwent brain imaging and completed questionnaires assessing generativity, social support, and purpose in life. Mediation models examined whether social support mediated the association between generativity and purpose in life. Seed-to-voxel analyses investigated the association between generativity and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and ventral striatum (VS), and whether this rsFC moderated the relationship between generativity and purpose in life. Results: Affectionate social support mediated the association between generative desire and purpose in life. Generative desire was associated with rsFC between VS and precuneus, and, vmPFC and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rdlPFC). The vmPFC–rdlPFC rsFC moderated the association between generative desire and purpose in life. Discussion: These findings provide insight into how the brain supports complex social behavior and, separately, purpose in life in at-risk aging. Affectionate social support may be a putative target process to enhance purpose in life in older adults. This knowledge contributes to future developments of personalized interventions that promote healthy aging.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbergbae060
JournalJournals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
Volume79
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2024

Keywords

  • Prosociality
  • Resting-state fMRI
  • Self-transcendence
  • Ventral striatum
  • Ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Neurobehavioral Mechanisms Influencing the Association Between Generativity, the Desire to Promote Well-Being of Younger Generations, and Purpose in Life in Older Adults at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this