These special traits may shield SuperAgers from dementia how they could lead to new Alzheimers tools
These seniors are having a moment.Life expectancy in the US hovers around 78.4 years — there’s a special group of people who surpass this mark with flying colors.The retirees, known as “SuperAgers,” exhibit the memory and cognitive abilities of people in middle age.A new report out of Northwestern University reveals unique traits of SuperAger brains that appear to shield them from dementia.“Our findings show that exceptional memory in old age is not only possible but is linked to a distinct neurobiological profile,” said Dr.
Sandra Weintraub, corresponding author of a new paper summarizing the findings.“This opens the door to new interventions aimed at preserving brain health well into the later decades of life.”Northwestern’s SuperAger program began over 25 years ago.To qualify, individuals must be over 80, cognitively healthy and actively engaged in life.SuperAgers are generally very social with meaningful relationships.Some 290 enrollees have been studied since 2000.
Of this group, 79 allowed Northwestern scientists to autopsy their brains after death.Researchers reported that SuperAger brains tend not to have amyloid plaques and tau tangles, two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, or if they do have them, they’re not at a level that would cause memory problems.“What we realized is there are two mechanisms that lead someone to become a SuperAger,” said Weintraub, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and neurology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.“One is resistance: they don’t make the plaques and tangles,” she added.“Two is resilience: they make them, but they don’t do anything to their brains.”SuperAgers didn’t exhibit significant thinning in their cerebral cortex, the brain’s outermost layer.
They even had a thicker anterior cingulate cortex than younger adults.The cortex is responsible for emotional regulation and cognitive functions such as attention, error detection and decision-making.S...