Study: Dopamine May No Longer Be Effective In Pushing Elders To Take Risks

As a person grows older, they grow wiser. That includes taking less risks which could be a result of their preference not to embark on gambles that will not reap positive rewards.

That of course does not hold true for most and a study singles out declining dopamine levels as a probable cause for this occurrence.

The study was published in Current Biology and found that older people were less likely to consider risky gambles. The researchers made use of an app called “The Great Brain Experiment” which showed how elderly folks would rather avoid risks that taking them on.

For those who are unaware, Dopamine is a chemical in the brain involved in predicting which actions will lead to rewards.

In this case, the study somehow showed that older people were not that blinded when it came to getting rewards with most opting not to take the risk in an effort to reach them.

The experiment involved 25,189 participants aged 18-69 who played “The Great Brain Experiment” smartphone app. The game entices users to gamble on points with players starting off with 500 points with the intent to rack in as much points as they can via thirteen different trials. That included deciding on whether to go with a safe option or a 50/50 gamble.

On the average, all the age groups gambled in approximately 56% of the loss trials and 67% of the mixed trials. In the gain trials, 18 to 24 year olds gambled in 72% of trials though these fell to 64% in the 60 to 69 age group. It was here where the dopamine angle came up.

"A loss of dopamine may explain why older people are less attracted to the promise of potential rewards," said lead author Robb Rutledge. "Decisions involving potential losses were unaffected and this may be because different processes important for losses are not affected by aging.

It should also be noted that while elder people have been found to stay away from risks, “The Great Brain Experiment” opens up a lot of other possibilities. That could include other complex brain processes like memory and attention according to Rutledge.