The threat superiority effect refers to an ability to quickly and efficiently detect threatening cues in one’s environment. Hence, ensuing and appropriate behavioral defense responses entail greater chances of survival for an organism. Some researchers argue that natural selection has led us to automatically prioritize threats that would have been salient during the period of evolutionary adaptation; as for example snakes. However, others have also argued that activation of our defense response system is more flexible, thus able to also be triggered to dangers of more recent age: such as guns or airplane crashes. The present study has sought to impact this debate, by measuring the electrodermal activity (EDA) – more specifically the skin conductance responses (SCRs) – of subjects who were visually presented with both evolutionary (snakes and spiders) and modern (guns and knives) fear-relevant stimuli. The results demonstrated no significant difference between the two categories within subjects, suggesting that both evolutionary and modern threatening cues activate the defense response system in a similar manner. Although the results are preliminary, and would need further verification in higher powered studies, they can be seen to favor the view that our defense response system is flexibly adaptive in relation to the age of a given threat.

<p>In contrast to effortful cognitive functions, emotional functioning may remain stable or even be enhanced in older adults. It is unclear how affective functions in aging correspond to subjective experiences and physiological changes. In <b>Study I</b>, ratings of emotional intensity and neural activity to facial expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were analyzed in younger and older adults. Negative expressions resulted in increased neural activity in the right amygdala and hippocampus in younger adults, and increased activation in the right insular cortex in older adults. There were no age differences in subjective ratings. In <b>Study II</b>, subjective ratings of, and skin conductance response (SCR) to, neutral and negative pictures were studied. The ratings of negative pictures were higher for older adults compared to younger adults. SCRs increased in both age groups for the negative pictures, but magnitude of SCRs was significantly larger in younger adults. Finally, in <b>Study III</b>, emotional memory after a one-year retention interval was tested. The memory performance of both age groups was higher in response to negative pictures compared to neutral ones, although the performance was generally higher for younger adults. SCR at encoding was the better arousal predictor for memory, but only in younger adults. The results indicate age-related changes in affective processing. Age differences may involve a gradual shift from bottom-up processes, to more top-down processes. The results are discussed in a wider lifespan perspective taking into consideration the accumulated life experience of older adults.</p>

In contrast to effortful cognitive functions, emotional functioning may remain stable or even be enhanced in older adults. It is unclear how affective functions in aging correspond to subjective experiences and physiological changes. In Study I, ratings of emotional intensity and neural activity to facial expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were analyzed in younger and older adults. Negative expressions resulted in increased neural activity in the right amygdala and hippocampus in younger adults, and increased activation in the right insular cortex in older adults. There were no age differences in subjective ratings. In Study II, subjective ratings of, and skin conductance response (SCR) to, neutral and negative pictures were studied. The ratings of negative pictures were higher for older adults compared to younger adults. SCRs increased in both age groups for the negative pictures, but magnitude of SCRs was significantly larger in younger adults. Finally, in Study III, emotional memory after a one-year retention interval was tested. The memory performance of both age groups was higher in response to negative pictures compared to neutral ones, although the performance was generally higher for younger adults. SCR at encoding was the better arousal predictor for memory, but only in younger adults. The results indicate age-related changes in affective processing. Age differences may involve a gradual shift from bottom-up processes, to more top-down processes. The results are discussed in a wider lifespan perspective taking into consideration the accumulated life experience of older adults.