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Why Older Adults Become Fraud Victims More Often

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2012Scienceanterior insula, brain, brain mechanism, brain scan, dishonest, early warning, elizabeth castle, face, financial exploitation, financial scam, financial swindles, fmri, fraud, functional, ian boggero, imaging, magnetic, mark grinblatt, money, naomi eisenberger, older people, photograph, region, resonance, shelley e taylor, signal, ucla study, untrustworthy face, victim, vulnerable

Brain shows diminished response to untrustworthiness, UCLA scientists report

Why are older people especially vulnerable to becoming victims of fraud? A new UCLA study indicates that an important clue may lie in a particular region of the brain that influences the ability to discern who is honest and who is trying to deceive us.

Older people, more than younger adults, may fail to interpret an untrustworthy face as potentially dishonest, the study shows. The reason for this, the UCLA life scientists found, seems to be that a brain region called the anterior insula, which is linked to disgust and is important for discerning untrustworthy faces, is less active in older adults. (more…)

UCLA Psychologists Discover a Gene’s Link to Optimism, Self-Esteem

UCLA life scientists have identified for the first time a particular gene’s link to optimism, self-esteem and “mastery,” the belief that one has control over one’s own life — three critical psychological resources for coping well with stress and depression.

“I have been looking for this gene for a few years, and it is not the gene I expected,” said Shelley E. Taylor, a distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA and senior author of the new research. “I knew there had to be a gene for these psychological resources.” (more…)

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Why Older Adults Become Fraud Victims More Often

UCLA Psychologists Discover a Gene’s Link to Optimism, Self-Esteem