ArticleNature communications2021
Ageing is associated with disrupted reinforcement learning whilst learning to help others is preserved.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Are Older Adults More Prosocial Than Younger Adults? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The Gerontologist · 2024Pooled it
- Humans are more prosocial in poor foraging environments.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Higher Purity of Phosphatidylserine Improves Human Cortical Neuron Function by Modulating SIRT1-PGC-1α Pathways.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Effects of Reflective Processes on Social-Emotional Trait Development in Adulthood: Insights From Two Multi-Method Studies.Journal of personality · 2026Article
- Learn how to be effective: neural and computational insights into charity efficiency learning.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2026Article
- Deciding for others diminishes model-based decision-making but depends on individual prosociality.NPJ science of learning · 2026Article
- Personality intervention affects emotional stability and extraversion similarly in older and younger adults.Communications psychology · 2025Article
- Learning reduces ingroup bias more with perceived losses than gains across cultures.NPJ science of learning · 2025Article
- Psychological interventions that decrease psychological distance or challenge system justification increase motivation to exert effort to mitigate climate change.Communications psychology · 2025Article
- Neurocomputational basis of learning when choices simultaneously affect both oneself and others.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions disrupt learning to reward others.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions differentially impact social influence and temporal discounting.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Dissociating social reward learning and behavior in alcohol use disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Mapping computational cognitive profiles of aging to dissociable brain and sociodemographic factors.npj aging · 2024Article
- Localized nitrogen management strategies can halve fertilizer use in Chinese staple crop production.Nature food · 2024Article
- Older adults are relatively more susceptible to impulsive social influence than young adults.Communications psychology · 2024Article
- Brain imaging of a gamified cognitive flexibility task in young and older adults.Brain imaging and behavior · 2024Article
- Human ventromedial prefrontal cortex is necessary for prosocial motivation.Nature human behaviour · 2024Article
- Reinforcement learning of altruistic punishment differs between cultures and across the lifespan.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Connected in Bad Times and in Good Times: Empathy Induces Stable Social Closeness.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Reinforcement learning is a fundamental mechanism displayed by many species. However, adaptive behaviour depends not only on learning about actions and outcomes that affect ourselves, but also those that affect others. Using computational reinforcement learning models, we tested whether young (age 18-36) and older (age 60-80, total n = 152) adults learn to gain rewards for themselves, another person (prosocial), or neither individual (control). Detailed model comparison showed that a model with separate learning rates for each recipient best explained behaviour. Young adults learned faster when their actions benefitted themselves, compared to others. Compared to young adults, older adults showed reduced self-relevant learning rates but preserved prosocial learning. Moreover, levels of subclinical self-reported psychopathic traits (including lack of concern for others) were lower in older adults and the core affective-interpersonal component of this measure negatively correlated with prosocial learning. These findings suggest learning to benefit others is preserved across the lifespan with implications for reinforcement learning and theories of healthy ageing.
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