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Social Reward Processing Across the Lifespan: Identifying Risk Factors for Financial Exploitation

Award Number: R01AG067011
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/15/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2026

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Social Reward Processing Across the Lifespan: Identifying Risk Factors for Financial Exploitation - Project Summary Older adults are often victims of financial exploitation, which results in annual losses of at least $3 billion. Threat of exploitation may be greater in those at risk for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). While most cases of financial exploitation are perpetrated by strangers, perpetration by individuals within the victim's social network (e.g., friends and family) is common. Although these observations highlight the social nature of financial exploitation, we know very little about how neural systems in older adults and those at risk for ADRD integrate information from the social domain to inform financial decision making. Tasks involving social information processing evoke activation in the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; whereas tasks involving financial decision making and reward processing evoke activation in the striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. It remains unclear whether responses within these neural systems—and connectivity between them and other regions—differ as a function of age and risk for financial exploitation. We recently demonstrated age differences in TPJ response during social decision-making in the context of financial exchange (e.g., trust and fairness). We have also shown that the influence of social context (e.g., presence of a peer) on striatal responses to reward is attenuated in older adults relative to younger adults. Building on these exciting preliminary data, the goal of the current proposal is to characterize neural responses during social decision making and reward processing across adulthood and quantify how these responses relate to risk for financial exploitation. We will recruit a large sample of adults (ages 21 to 80+ years) to participate in a neuroimaging experiment investigating social reward processing and the interplay between social context and financial decision making. We will also administer neuropsychological and health assessments, as well as questionnaires assessing socioemotional functioning and risk for financial exploitation. Our project will address four aims. We will examine how neural responses to social and nonsocial reward and decisions based on trust and fairness differ across the lifespan (Aim 1). Although neural responses evoked by our tasks may be associated with risk for financial exploitation, it is imperative to determine how such responses interact with sociodemographic factors, cognitive decline, socioemotional functioning, and health (Aim 2). Notably, our quantification of health status will leverage two understudied risk factors for ADRD—vascular health and white matter hyperintensities—and relate these factors to financial exploitation. Finally, we will re-test a subset of participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) two years after their baseline visit and assess changes in social reward processing and risk for financial exploitation (Aim 3). Overall, our project will generate new insights into the interplay between social and financial decision making across the lifespan and individuals at risk for ADRD and start the road to translation by characterizing risk factors for financial exploitation among vulnerable groups.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $1,167,622 )
2025	2025	TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1805 N BROAD ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19122	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Aging Research	004	3	6/13/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$51,918
2025	2025	TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1805 N BROAD ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19122	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Aging Research	002	3	4/2/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$584,091
2025	2025	TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1805 N BROAD ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19122	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Aging Research	000	2	10/28/2024	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$34,536
2025	2024	TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1805 N BROAD ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19122	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Aging Research	001	2	3/11/2025	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$97,077
2025	2024	TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1805 N BROAD ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19122	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Aging Research	003	2	4/9/2025	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$400,000
														Subtotal = $1,167,622

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $650,575 )
2024	2024	TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1805 N BROAD ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19122	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Aging Research	001	2	5/16/2024	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
2024	2024	TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	1805 N BROAD ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19122	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Aging Research	000	2	4/25/2024	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$650,575
														Subtotal = $650,575

Grand Total All Awards = $1,818,197

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Social Reward Processing Across the Lifespan: Identifying Risk Factors for Financial Exploitation

Award Number: R01AG067011

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/15/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2026

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