- Super-agers maintain sharp memory and thinking well into their 80s and beyond
- Their brains show fewer malfunctioning proteins linked to cognitive decline
- Super-agers exhibit higher neurogenesis, forming new neurons in the hippocampus
It's quite normal for people to experience cognitive decline in their 80s and 90s. Memory fades, and people struggle with poor judgment, confusion, language difficulties, and personality changes caused by brain cell damage. However, a small group of individuals, known as "super-agers," defy this trend. Super-agers are people above 80 years of age whose cognitive performance, especially memory, is similar to that of people decades younger. A study by the scientists at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, revealed that the so-called super-agers maintain sharp thinking and memory well into their 80s. They also tried to reveal how.
In the paper published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers studied the state of cell and gene patterns of people with age-related cognitive decline.
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"This discovery means that the super-agers have a molecular capability that allows them to have higher [cognitive] performance, and that includes more neurogenesis," Orly Lazarov, the director of UIC's Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Training Program, who led the research, said as quoted by NBC News. "Neurogenesis is one of the most profound forms of plasticity in the brain."
Notably, neurogenesis is the process by which new neurons are formed in the brain. It is extremely crucial when a baby is developing inside the womb; however, it continues in certain brain regions after birth. For example, the hippocampus is a brain region that plays an important role in memory and spatial navigation.
To conduct the study, the experts looked for neurogenesis in older adults. They analysed 38 brains from five groups of adults who died. The researchers identified genetic markers for neural stem cells, neuroblasts and immature neurons. The presence of all means that stem cells are active and dividing in the brain, with new baby cells maturing into adult neurons.
"It's almost like neural stem cells are babies, neuroblasts are kind of teenagers, and immature neurons are kind of almost adults," Lazarov said as quoted by The New York Times.
Tamar Gefen, who is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said that the super-ageing "happens not only because there's more of these young cells, but because there is a type of genetic programming" that allows for their preservation. Gefen had contributed to the research.
The findings reveal that all three cell types were present in each group in different amounts, but in super-agers, the amount of new, or "immature", neurons in their hippocampi was substantially higher.
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The study indicates that super-agers' brains exhibit greater neuroplasticity, allowing them to adapt and compensate for age-related changes.
This study shows human adult hippocampal neurogenesis continues into advanced age and is linked with better memory, but the researchers also need to prove cause-and-effect.
But still, understanding super-agers could lead to new strategies for preventing or slowing cognitive decline, as the researchers are exploring ways to harness their secrets, potentially benefiting millions worldwide.
Previous studies have found that super-agers often share certain traits such as a healthy lifestyle, the presence of protective genetic variants, higher education and mental stimulation, and larger brain volume and more efficient neural connections.
