Researchers
Ian Gotlib (Principal Mentor)
Michael Chen - PhD

One of the most stressful aspects of aging involves making health-related decisions, such as selecting treatment options for an intractable disease or choosing among health insurance plans. Indeed, both elderly adults and individuals responsible for their care have been found to experience considerable stress in making such decisions. Recent evidence indicates that genetic factors may moderate difficulties in decision making by increasing the body's biological response to stress. This project aims to elucidate the effects of biological stress on decision-making, as well as the role of specific genes in determining the biological stress response and decision-making ability in aging. To characterize the role of biological stress in initial decision-making, during the stressful task, and in subsequent decision making, cortisol levels will be assayed by collecting saliva samples at 15-minute intervals during the course of the study. At the beginning and end of each block of decision-making tasks, participants will also rate their subjective level of stress. Saliva samples will also be used to genotype participants on the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism.

Contact
Nomita Divi