Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41646703›Full record

ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2026

The neural basis of prosocial effort-based decision making in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Caitlin S Walker, Garance Barnoin, Mitchell Bennett, Colleen Hughes, Jennifer Tremblay-Mercier, R Nathan Spreng, Judes Poirier, Laurel S Morris, PREVENT-AD Research Group, Sylvia Villeneuve and 1 more

Abstract readPreprint
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Caitlin S WalkerThe Neuro, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Garance BarnoinDepartment of Arts and Science, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Mitchell BennettDepartment of Arts and Science, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Colleen HughesPsychological and Brain Sciences Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Jennifer Tremblay-MercierCentre for Studies in the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, Douglas Mental Health Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
R Nathan SprengThe Neuro, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Judes PoirierCentre for Studies in the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, Douglas Mental Health Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Laurel S MorrisDepartment of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
PREVENT-AD Research Group
Sylvia VilleneuveThe Neuro, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-2338-0467
Maiya R GeddesThe Neuro, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Funding

Core B - Pilot StudiesP30AG048785 · NIA · BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY · PI LACHMAN, MARGIE E · 2014 to 2023
$4.5M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG048785
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Alzheimer's disease is associated with impairments in decision making that undermine autonomy, health behaviors, and quality of life. Effort-based decision making, the process of weighing reward value against effort costs, is particularly disrupted in aging and Alzheimer's disease. However, aging is also characterized by a shift toward socioemotional and prosocial goals, which may preserve motivation and effortful behavior. Understanding prosocial effort-based decision making and its neural substrates in individuals at risk for AD may reveal early alterations in decision making and neural circuits that support healthy aging. Methods: Fifty-two older adults from the PREVENT-AD cohort (mean age = 68.48, 38 females, 18 Results: Participants showed increased acceptance of effort for prosocial compared to selforiented rewards. The relationship between reward and effort in both conditions was best captured by a sigmoid function, with lower motivation for self-oriented compared to prosocial rewards. Across all participants, higher motivation for prosocial compared to self-oriented rewards was associated with resting-state functional connectivity to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. Conclusions: Prosocial incentives may be an effective strategy for motivating effortful behavior in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease. Although

Indexed as

Computational modelingEffort discountingfMRIMotivationPreclinical Alzheimer’s diseaseReward processing

Identifiers

PMID41646703
PMCPMC12870574

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.