Emotion Study/Substudy: Flexible Brain Study

There is increasing evidence that age-related alterations in brain function associated with
affective processing and attention contribute to these motivational and emotional changes
with age.

Based on these theoretical considerations as well as the previous study's data, the proposed
research will apply well-tested emotion processing and attention paradigms to address the
pivotal question of whether brain activity can be modulated in healthy aging and PD (in the
substudy) via contingent rt-fMRI neurofeedback and whether this neuroregulatory modulation
increases emotion processing and cognitive performance.

Inclusion Criteria: Young adults

- aged 18-35 years of age

- right-handed

- native English speaker

- at least 8th grade education

- generally physically and neurologically healthy as determined by the Health
Demographics Screener

- eligible for MRI as determined by the MRI Eligibility Interview (including not being
pregnant)

- scores within normal limits on a cognitive screener (MoCA)

- no indication of serious psychiatric disturbance including major depression (based on
Mental Health Screener)

- willing and able to give informed consent

Inclusion Criteria: Older adults

- age 55-100 years of age

- right-handed

- native English speaker

- at least 8th grade education

- generally physically and neurologically healthy as determined by the Health
Demographics Screener

- eligible for MRI as determined by the MRI Eligibility Interview

- no indication of dementia based on score of 30 or above on the Telephone Interview for
Cognitive Status and nonimpaired score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA --
score of 22 and above)

- no indication of serious psychiatric disturbance including current major depression
(based on Mental Health Screener)

- willing and able to give informed consent

Inclusion Criteria: Parkinson patients

- must meet criteria for diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson disease according the UK
Brain Bank by a movement trained neurologist.

- age 55-100 years of age

- right-handed

- native English speaker

- at least 8th grade education

- generally physically and neurologically healthy other than Parkinson disease

- eligible for MRI as determined by the MRI Eligibility Interview

- no indication of dementia based on cognitive screening measures (TICS -- score of 30
or above, and MoCa -- score of 22 and above)

- no indication of serious psychiatric disturbance including current major depression

- willing and able to give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

- Pregnant or possibly pregnant

- Claustrophobia

- Large pieces of metal in the body, particularly in the face and neck.

- Piercings or metal implants that cannot be removed from the body

- Surgery on the brain or any prior serious brain damage or disease

- Dementia or severe cognitive disorders