Behavioral and Social Sciences
Mara Mather, PhD
Professor of Gerontology, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Dept. of Psychology and Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States
Julian Thayer, PhD (he/him/his)
Distinguished Professor
Psychological Science
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California, United States
Kathy Liu, MRCPsych (she/her/hers)
MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow
Division of Psychiatry
University College London
London, England, United Kingdom
Richard Song, N/a (he/him/his)
Research Assistant
School of Engineering
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Jungwon Min
Ph.D. Student In Brain And Cognitive Science
Psychology
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States
Mara Mather, PhD
Professor of Gerontology, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Dept. of Psychology and Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States
Aging affects both autonomic activity and the brain regions that help modulate autonomic activity. In this symposium, we present new findings on how the relationships between autonomic activity and the brain change in aging. In addition, we demonstrate that modulating autonomic activity can affect the aging brain and emotional and cognitive functions controlled by the brain. Kathy Liu will present research from over 600 participants showing that, unlike younger adults who show the expected positive relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and brain and behavioral indicators of emotion regulation, older adults showed a negative relationship between HRV and emotion regulation. Julian Thayer will present findings on how blood pressure and total peripheral resistance relate to brain structure. Richard Song will present functional MRI data revealing that the older brain shows less blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to physiological fluctuations than younger brains. Jungwon Min will present findings that random assignment to daily biofeedback to either increase or decrease heart rate oscillations had a large effect on plasma amyloid-β. Mara Mather will present a new theoretical model positing that older brains attempt to compensate for hyperactive peripheral sympathetic activity, and that this ventromedial prefrontal compensatory activity leads to the biases in attention and memory known as the age-related positivity effect. Together, the empirical findings and theoretical perspectives presented in this symposium indicate that the autonomic system exerts important influences over the aging brain and that this provides a significant opportunity for intervening to improve brain health.
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Julian F. Thayer, PhD (he/him/his) – University of California, Irvine
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Kathy Y. Liu, MRCPsych (she/her/hers) – University College London
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Richard W. Song, N/a (he/him/his) – Vanderbilt University
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Jungwon Min – University of Southern California
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Mara Mather, PhD – University of Southern California