For the past 25 years, researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University have been studying a group of extraordinary older adults called SuperAgers. These are individuals aged 80 and above with memories as sharp as those decades younger than them. They’ve been thoroughly tested for their cognitive skills and are the cream of the crop: that is, only 10% of those who attempt to enroll in this study of “SuperAgers” are determined to have the characteristics that qualify them to be called SuperAgers. We’ve profiled this group previously on agebuzz, but they’re back in the news again with some high-profile study results. For it seems that through the participation of these exceptional seniors, and especially through the post-mortem research done on their donated brains, researchers have made important discoveries about why these older adults are both resistant to and resilient from the brain aging and cognitive decline that so many seniors experience. It is hoped that these new insights will lead to further drug development to help sustain and support cognitive functioning and memory as older adults enter their later years.

With their work published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia (The Journal of the American Alzheimer’s Association), researchers Sandra Weintraub, Tamar Gefen, and others from Northwestern report on distinct anatomical differences in the brains of SuperAgers versus their “non-super” peers, including the ability of SuperAgers to withstand the ravages of amyloid plaques and tau tangles that typically cause dementia symptoms in older adults. While some SuperAgers appear able to withstand the presence of these Alzheimer’s hallmarks without experiencing cognitive decline, others don’t even seem to develop them at all. The ability to do research on donated brain tissue from research participants has been especially valuable in better understanding the unique situation of SuperAgers. As Dr. Gefen recently commented, “Many of the findings from this paper stem from the examination of brain specimens of generous, dedicated SuperAgers who were followed for decades. I am constantly amazed by how brain donation can enable discovery long after death, offering a kind of scientific immortality.” For those of you interested in learning how you, too, can donate your brain after death to further scientific research, take a look here.

So what, more specifically, sets these SuperAgers apart in this new study? There were several aspects of their actual brain physiology that were distinct. Unlike typical older brains, which usually shrink in mass, the brains of SuperAgers appear to “fight back.” A portion of their brains, known as the cingulate cortex, which is responsible for things like cognitive engagement, is thicker in SuperAgers. In the memory centers of the brain, SuperAgers had many fewer tau tangles than their peers. These and other distinctive neurobiological profiles may lead to new treatments and drug developments for better brain health. Dr. Gefen remarks on other distinctive brain qualities in SuperAgers here. 

But what’s also interesting are the behavioral patterns that set these distinct older adults apart from their peers. While some SuperAgers may do little to engage in healthy diets or regular exercise, they all seem to share an “extroverted” personality and place significant importance on the role of social engagement and relationships in their lives. This emphasis on socializing may help SuperAgers ward off brain volume decline, and there is some biological evidence that SuperAgers have more von Economo neurons, which play an important role in highly social animals. However, there is still work to be done to determine if these SuperAgers are more social due to their high level of cognitive functioning or whether their social relationships are the reason their cognitive skills are so resilient despite their ages and brain structures. Whatever the case, it’s clear that these SuperAgers know that they are in a unique position to help scientists better understand brain physiology and the behavioral components that support better brain health as adults age. For their participation and donation, we should all be grateful, as we await the new research advances that hopefully will follow the study of these unique older adults. For more on this research, click here.