Aging Changes the Neural Correlates of Social Perspective Taking and Moral Judgements

Morality involves both cognitive and affective abilities, and while aging may hamper cognitive perspective-taking, it often enhances social-emotional focus. With strong motivation, older adults can perform as well as younger individuals in affective tasks. However, how aging affects the neural basis of Social Perspective Taking across these systems remains unclear. This study included young and older adults with varying implicit moral attitudes (mIAT) and Justice Sensitivity Inventory (JSI). fMRI scans were conducted while participants mentally simulated moral behaviors, such as helping or harming others. Older adults displayed higher mIAT D scores, reflecting greater conflict between positive valence and immoral actions. They also showed lower victim sensitivity on the JSI and attributed more praise and blame to moral actions, suggesting increased cognitive engagement in evaluating moral behaviors. Neuroimaging revealed that older adults showed reduced neural variation between helping and harming behaviors in the insula and anterior mid-cingulate cortex, indicating less engagement of affective systems. However, they maintained variation in the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, relying more on cognitive systems. These findings suggest older adults compensate for diminished affective responses by engaging cognitive resources during moral evaluations and social perspective-taking, reflecting greater reliance on cognitive processing in differentiating moral behaviors.