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

Journal article

Caitlin Walker, Linda Li, Giulia Baracchini, J. Tremblay-Mercier, R. N. Spreng, Paul Elena Melissa Pierre Fatiha Véronique Jason John C Aisen Anthal Appleby Bellec Benbouhoud Bohbot Bran, P. Aisen, Elena Anthal, Melissa Appleby, Pierre Bellec, Fatiha Benbouhoud, Véronique Bohbot, Jason Brandt, J. Breitner, Céline Brunelle, Mallar M. Chakravarty, Laksanun Cheewakriengkrai, Louis Collins, Doris Couture, S. Craft, Mahsa Dadar, Leslie-Ann Daoust, Samir Das, Marina Dauar-Tedeschi, D. Dea, Nicole Desrochers, Sylvie Dubuc, Guerda Duclair, Marianne Dufour, Mark Eisenberg, Rana El-Khoury, Pierre Etienne, Alan Evans, A. Faubert, Fabiola Ferdinand, Vladimir S Fonov, David Fontaine, R. Francoeur, J. Frenette, Guylaine Gagné, Serge Gauthier, M. Geddes, Valérie Gervais, Renuka Giles, J. Gonneaud, Renee Gordon, Claudia Greco, Rick Hoge, Louise Hudon, Yasser Ituria-Medina, J. Kat, Christina Kazazian, Stephanie Kligman, P. Kostopoulos, A. Labonté, Marie-Élyse Lafaille-Magnan, Tanya Lee, Jeannie-Marie S Leoutsakos, Illana Leppert, C. Madjar, Laura Mahar, Jean-Robert Maltais, Axel Mathieu, S. Mathotaarachchi, G. Mayrand, Melissa McSweeney, Pierre-François Meyer, Diane Michaud, J. Miron, John C. Morris, Gerhard Multhaup, Lisa-Marie Münter, V. Nair, Jamie Near, Holly Newbold-Fox, Nathalie I.V. Nilsson, Véronique Pagé, T. Pascoal, Mirela Petkova, C. Picard, Alexa Pichet Binette, Galina Pogossova, Judes Poirier, N. Rajah, Jordana Remz, Pierre Rioux, P. Rosa-Neto, Mark A. Sager, Eunice Farah Saint-Fort, Mélissa Savard, J. Soucy, R. Sperling, N. Spreng, Frédéric St-Onge, C. Tardif, L. Théroux, Ronald G Thomas, P. Toussaint, J. Tremblay-Mercier, Miranda Tuwaig, Étienne Vachon-Presseau, Isabelle Vallée, Vinod Venugopalan, Sylvia Villeneuve, Simon Ducharme, Karen Wan, Seqian Wang, M. Geddes
The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2024

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APA Click to copy
Walker, C., Li, L., Baracchini, G., Tremblay-Mercier, J., Spreng, R. N., Bran, P. E. M. P. F. V. J. J. C. A. A. A. B. B. B., … Geddes, M. (2024). 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 Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Walker, Caitlin, Linda Li, Giulia Baracchini, J. Tremblay-Mercier, R. N. Spreng, Paul Elena Melissa Pierre Fatiha Véronique Jason John C Aisen Anthal Appleby Bellec Benbouhoud Bohbot Bran, P. Aisen, et al. “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 journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences (2024).

MLA Click to copy
Walker, Caitlin, et al. “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 Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 2024.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{caitlin2024a,
  title = {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},
  year = {2024},
  journal = {The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences},
  author = {Walker, Caitlin and Li, Linda and Baracchini, Giulia and Tremblay-Mercier, J. and Spreng, R. N. and Bran, Paul Elena Melissa Pierre Fatiha Véronique Jason John C Aisen Anthal Appleby Bellec Benbouhoud Bohbot and Aisen, P. and Anthal, Elena and Appleby, Melissa and Bellec, Pierre and Benbouhoud, Fatiha and Bohbot, Véronique and Brandt, Jason and Breitner, J. and Brunelle, Céline and Chakravarty, Mallar M. and Cheewakriengkrai, Laksanun and Collins, Louis and Couture, Doris and Craft, S. and Dadar, Mahsa and Daoust, Leslie-Ann and Das, Samir and Dauar-Tedeschi, Marina and Dea, D. and Desrochers, Nicole and Dubuc, Sylvie and Duclair, Guerda and Dufour, Marianne and Eisenberg, Mark and El-Khoury, Rana and Etienne, Pierre and Evans, Alan and Faubert, A. and Ferdinand, Fabiola and Fonov, Vladimir S and Fontaine, David and Francoeur, R. and Frenette, J. and Gagné, Guylaine and Gauthier, Serge and Geddes, M. and Gervais, Valérie and Giles, Renuka and Gonneaud, J. and Gordon, Renee and Greco, Claudia and Hoge, Rick and Hudon, Louise and Ituria-Medina, Yasser and Kat, J. and Kazazian, Christina and Kligman, Stephanie and Kostopoulos, P. and Labonté, A. and Lafaille-Magnan, Marie-Élyse and Lee, Tanya and Leoutsakos, Jeannie-Marie S and Leppert, Illana and Madjar, C. and Mahar, Laura and Maltais, Jean-Robert and Mathieu, Axel and Mathotaarachchi, S. and Mayrand, G. and McSweeney, Melissa and Meyer, Pierre-François and Michaud, Diane and Miron, J. and Morris, John C. and Multhaup, Gerhard and Münter, Lisa-Marie and Nair, V. and Near, Jamie and Newbold-Fox, Holly and Nilsson, Nathalie I.V. and Pagé, Véronique and Pascoal, T. and Petkova, Mirela and Picard, C. and Binette, Alexa Pichet and Pogossova, Galina and Poirier, Judes and Rajah, N. and Remz, Jordana and Rioux, Pierre and Rosa-Neto, P. and Sager, Mark A. and Saint-Fort, Eunice Farah and Savard, Mélissa and Soucy, J. and Sperling, R. and Spreng, N. and St-Onge, Frédéric and Tardif, C. and Théroux, L. and Thomas, Ronald G and Toussaint, P. and Tremblay-Mercier, J. and Tuwaig, Miranda and Vachon-Presseau, Étienne and Vallée, Isabelle and Venugopalan, Vinod and Villeneuve, Sylvia and Ducharme, Simon and Wan, Karen and Wang, Seqian and Geddes, M.}
}

Abstract

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.