Scientists agree: “The super-elderly are completely different from other human beings”
This term describes people in their 80s who have the memory of someone several decades younger.
Recent research has found that older adults who maintain remarkable cognitive sharpness as they age possess a genetic advantage over their peers. This finding comes from the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine (UIC) and was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Researchers determined that compared with typical older adults “SuperAgers” produce twice as many new neurons in the hippocampus, a key region for memory and learning, through a process known as neurogenesis.
Orly Lazarov, director of the UIC’s Training Program in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, explained: “Something in their brains enables them to maintain a superior memory. I believe hippocampal neurogenesis is the secret ingredient, and the data support that.”
The term SuperAger refers to people aged 80 or older who maintain the memory capacity of someone two or even three decades younger, according to Dr. M. Marsel Mesulam, founder of the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
Researchers analyzed 38 brains
For the study, researchers examined 38 brains from five groups of deceased adults: healthy adults age 40 or younger, healthy older adults, people in the early stages of cognitive decline, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, and SuperAgers. They analyzed neurons at different stages of development and found that SuperAgers had twice as many new, or “immature,” neurons as healthy older adults, and 2.5 times as many as individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.
Lazarov’s research suggests that adult human brains can generate new neurons, and that this capacity depends on age and cognitive status. The brains of SuperAgers showed what Lazarov described as a “resilience signature.” She explained: “They are able to cope with aging and continue to perform well cognitively.”
The study also revealed a significant genetic difference between SuperAgers and typical older adults. According to co-director Tamar Gefen of Northwestern’s SuperAging Program speaking to NBC News, this suggests that SuperAgers are “completely different from other human beings.”
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