Impact of stereotype threat on brain activity during memory tasks in older adults.

ABSTRACT: We report the first neuroimaging experiment to investigate the impact of explicitly activating aging stereotypes (i.e., stereotype threat) on brain activity during cognitive tasks. Cognitively normal older adults read about aging stereotypes or a control passage prior to taking episodic memory, working memory, and a non-demanding control task during fMRI. At the group level, stereotype activation did not impact cognitive performance or measures sensitive to stress and anxiety (physiological or self-report), but like prior work, highly educated and retired adults exhibited greater stereotype effects on episodic memory. At the neural level, stereotype activation did not impact brain activity in executive control or emotional regulation regions previously linked to stereotype threat effects i

SUBMITTER: Chen YT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9436003 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature