# Age effects on memory and reward systems in decision making

> **NIH NIH R00** · BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $248,564

## Abstract

Project Summary
Aging is accompanied by profound changes in neurochemical systems as well as accumulation of aggregated
proteins. To date, the influence of these processes on cognition has been studied in isolation. The proposed
research takes novel steps to bridge these fields to develop an integrative model of how changes across
multiple neural systems interact to affect high-level decision making in aging.
Candidate and career goals: This project will support the candidate’s essential training and development in
the field of cognitive aging, with a particular focus on how decline in reward and memory systems interact to
contribute to decision making ability. The candidate has a strong track record of research defining the
functional mechanisms by which neuromodulators shape cognition. To support the candidate in launching a
sustainable, cross-disciplinary independent research program, two expert mentors will provide individualized
training. First, the candidate will train in the field of the neuroeconomics and financial decision making, which
she will apply to the field of cognitive aging. Second, the candidate will train in PET methods for assessing
Alzheimer’s disease pathology and accompanying medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory function in older
adults. This novel research program will capitalize on the candidate’s established expertise while developing
critical skills to connect two important lines of cognitive aging research.
Environment: The exceptional resources and scientific community at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business provide and ideal environment to foster the candidate’s
development into an innovative and successful independent investigator. The candidate will have access to
state-of-the-art human neuroimaging technology and will be supported by a rich institutional culture promoting
creative, cross-disciplinary collaborations.
Research activity: Aging is accompanied by 1) dysfunction of the dopamine system, which affects the
response to rewards in ventral striatum, and 2) aggregation of hyperphosphorylated tau, associated with MTL
degeneration and memory disruption. The proposed K99 studies will delineate the independent and interactive
roles of these processes in modulating central components of financial decision making: reward learning and
memory. These studies will combine PET imaging in healthy older adults, a novel laboratory task designed
specifically to probe striatal-MTL interactions, and a validated measure of real-world financial capacity. The
proposed R00 studies will pair the laboratory task with functional MRI to define the patterns of activation and
network activity between striatum and MTL that underlie age-related disruption in performance and best predict
individual differences in real-world financial capacity. Together, these studies will contribute to new models of
how cross-system interactions influence high-level cognition in aging while identifying potential targe...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10187476
- **Project number:** 5R00AG058748-05
- **Recipient organization:** BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Anne Shively Berry
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $248,564
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-15 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10187476

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10187476, Age effects on memory and reward systems in decision making (5R00AG058748-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10187476. Licensed CC0.

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