Aging
| People aged 80 and above, but with memories that are as sharp as those of healthy persons decades younger—SuperAgers—have distinctly different brains than those of normal people, according to new imaging and analysis. |
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SuperAgers, aged 80 and above, have distinctly different looking brains than those of normal older people, according to new research. The work is the initial stages of revealing why the memories of these cognitively older individuals don’t seem to suffer the usual effects of aging.
SuperAgers have memories that are as sharp as those of healthy persons decades younger.
Understanding their unique “brain signature” will enable scientists to decipher the genetic or molecular source and may foster the development of strategies to protect the memories of normal aging persons as well as treat dementia.
Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study is the first to quantify brain differences of SuperAgers and normal older people.
Cognitive SuperAgers were first identified in 2007 by scientists at Northwestern University’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
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“The brains of the SuperAgers are either wired differently or have structural differences when compared to normal individuals of the same age,” said Changiz Geula, study senior author and a research professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center. “It may be one factor, such as expression of a specific gene, or a combination of factors that offers protection.”
“Identifying the factors that contribute to the SuperAgers’ unusual memory capacity may allow us to offer strategies to help the growing population of ‘normal’ elderly maintain their cognitive function and guide future therapies to treat certain dementias,” said Tamar Gefen, the first study author and a clinical neuropsychology doctoral candidate at Feinberg.
"Identifying the factors that contribute to the SuperAgers’ unusual memory capacity may allow us to offer strategies to help the growing population of ‘normal’ elderly maintain their cognitive function and guide future therapies to treat certain dementias." |
MRI imaging showed the anterior cingulate cortex of SuperAgers (31 subjects) was not only significantly thicker than the same area in aged individuals with normal cognitive performance (21 subjects), but also larger than the same area in a group of much younger, middle-aged individuals (ages 50 to 60, 18 subjects). This region is indirectly related to memory through its influence on related functions such as cognitive control, executive function, conflict resolution, motivation and perseverance.
Analysis of the brains of five SuperAgers showed the anterior cingulate cortex had approximately 87 percent less tangles than age-matched controls and 92 percent less tangles than individuals with mild cognitive impairment. The neurofibrillary brain tangles, twisted fibers consisting of the protein tau, strangle and eventually kill neurons.
The number of von Economo neurons was approximately three to five times higher in the anterior cingulate of SuperAgers compared with age-matched controls and individuals with mild cognitive impairment.
“It’s thought that these von Economo neurons play a critical role in the rapid transmission of behaviorally relevant information related to social interactions,” Geula said, “which is how they may relate to better memory capacity.”
Studies like this, will probably have you ask what it takes to be among the SuperAgers. Unfortunately, there aren't yet any clear answers, Emily Rogalski, an assistant research professor at Northwestern has said.
"Genetics are likely to play a role. And, in general, a healthy lifestyle is supportive of good memory. But in our experience, some of our SuperAgers have been smoking a pack of cigarettes for the last 20 years. Others have never touched them. Some go to the gym three to five days a week. Others don't exercise. Some are still working and others have never worked. It seems there might be more than one route to being a SuperAger."
SOURCE Northwestern University
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