Researchers at Northwestern University have spent 25 years studying SuperAgers—people over 80 with memories as sharp as those 30 years younger—revealing key brain traits that resist cognitive decline. Their findings, published in a new perspective article, highlight two protective mechanisms against Alzheimer's-related damage and emphasize the role of social connections. The work could lead to new strategies for preventing dementia.
For the past 25 years, scientists at Northwestern Medicine have investigated SuperAgers, individuals aged 80 and older who perform on memory tests comparably to people in their 50s and 60s. These exceptional individuals score at least 9 out of 15 on a delayed word recall test, defying the notion that mental decline is inevitable with age.
The term 'SuperAger' was coined in the late 1990s by Dr. M. Marsel Mesulam, founder of the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease at Northwestern. Since 2000, 290 SuperAgers have joined the study, with researchers examining 77 donated brains postmortem. Key discoveries focus on brain biology: SuperAgers show no significant cortical thinning and possess a thicker anterior cingulate cortex than younger adults, a region vital for decision-making, emotion, and motivation. They also have more von Economo neurons, linked to social behavior, and larger entorhinal neurons, essential for memory.
Dr. Sandra Weintraub, professor of psychiatry, behavioral sciences, and neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, explained the breakthroughs: "It's really what we've found in their brains that's been so earth-shattering for us." The study identifies two pathways to SuperAging: resistance, where brains avoid amyloid plaques and tau tangles associated with Alzheimer's, or resilience, where these proteins form but do not impair function. "What we realized is there are two mechanisms that lead someone to become a SuperAger," Weintraub said. "One is resistance: they don't make the plaques and tangles. Two is resilience: they make them, but they don't do anything to their brains."
SuperAgers often share lifestyle traits, including high sociability and strong relationships, despite varied exercise habits. "Our findings show that exceptional memory in old age is not only possible but is linked to a distinct neurobiological profile. This opens the door to new interventions aimed at preserving brain health well into the later decades of life," Weintraub noted in the perspective article, titled "The First 25 Years of the Northwestern SuperAging Program," published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
Co-author Dr. Tamar Gefen, a neuropsychologist at the Mesulam Center, highlighted the value of brain donations: "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." These insights aim to inform strategies against dementia from Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.