Are you a ‘SuperAger’?

Researchers have long chronicled what goes wrong in the brains of older people with dementia. But Chicago’s Northwestern Medicine researcher Emily Rogalski wondered what goes right in the brains of the elderly who still have terrific memories, who she dubs the ‘SuperAgers’.

Ms Rogalski’s new study has reportedly identified an elite group of elderly people aged 80 years and older whose memories are as sharp as people aged 20 to 30 years younger than them.

On 3D MRI scans, the SuperAger participants’ brains appear as young, and one brain region was even bigger than the brains of the middle-aged participants.

She was astounded by the vitality of the SuperAgers’ cortex, which is the outer layer of the brain important for memory, attention and other thinking abilities. The SuperAgers cortex was much thicker than that of a normal group of elderly people aged 80 years and older (whose showed significant thinning) and closely resembled the cortex size of participants aged 50 to 65.

“These findings are remarkable given grey matter, or brain cell loss, is a common part of normal aging,” Ms Rogalski, the principal investigator of the study, said.

By identifying older people who seem to be uniquely protected from the deterioration of memory and atrophy of brain cells that accompanies ageing, Ms Rogalski hopes to unlock the secrets of their youthful brains. Those discoveries may be applied to protect others from memory loss or even Alzheimer’s disease.

“By looking at a really healthy older brain, we can start to deduce how SuperAgers are able to maintain their good memory,” she said.

“Many scientists study what’s wrong with the brain, but maybe we can ultimately help Alzheimer’s patients by figuring out what goes right in the brain of SuperAgers.

“What we learn from these healthy brains may inform our strategies for improving quality of life for the elderly and for combatting Alzheimer’s disease.”

By measuring the thickness of the cortex, Ms Rogalski has a sense of how many brain cells are left.

“We can’t actually count them, but the thickness of the outer cortex of the brain provides an indirect measure of the health of the brain,” she said. “A thicker cortex suggests a greater number of neurons.”

In another region deep in the brain, the anterior cingulate of SuperAger participants’ was actually thicker than in the 50 to 65 year olds.

“This is pretty incredible. This region is important for attention. Attention supports memory. Perhaps the SuperAgers have really keen attention and that supports their exceptional memories.”

Most of the SuperAger participants plan to donate their brains to the study. “By studying their brains we can link the attributes of the living person to the underlying cellular features,” Ms Rogalski said.