For over 25 years, researchers at Northwestern Medicine have been poking and prodding a group of people aged 80 and older they call "SuperAgers" - because apparently some folks just refuse to let their brains retire. These individuals consistently perform on memory tests at levels similar to people at least 30 years younger, challenging the long-standing belief that cognitive decline is unavoidable with age. Take that, inevitability.
Over decades of research, scientists noticed some lifestyle and personality traits that set SuperAgers apart from their peers: they're highly social and outgoing. So basically, the secret to a sharp mind might be having a robust social calendar and an extroverted personality. But the most surprising discoveries came from examining their brains. "It's really what we've found in their brains that's been so earth-shattering for us," said Dr. Sandra Weintraub, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. And by earth-shattering, she means actually useful - not the kind that leaves a mess.
The findings were published as a perspective article in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, part of a special issue marking the 40th anniversary of the National Institute on Aging's Alzheimer's Disease Centers Program and the 25th anniversary of the National Alzheimer Coordinating Center. Because nothing says "celebration" like a deep dive into the aging brain.
The label "SuperAger" was introduced by Dr. M. Marsel Mesulam, who founded the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease at Northwestern in the late 1990s. Since 2000, 290 participants have taken part in the program, and researchers have studied 77 donated SuperAger brains after death. Some of these brains showed the presence of amyloid and tau proteins (plaques and tangles), which are strongly linked to Alzheimer's disease. Others showed no signs of these harmful proteins at all. "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." So either your brain avoids the bad stuff or it just shrugs it off. Both are valid life strategies.
Researchers have uncovered several defining characteristics that help explain why SuperAgers maintain such strong cognitive abilities - including larger neurons in the entorhinal cortex, fewer tau tangles, and a lower density of Alzheimer's pathology compared to typical elderly individuals. At the Mesulam Center, participants are evaluated each year and can choose to donate their brains for scientific study after death. These donations have been essential to many of the program's most important findings. "Many of the findings from this paper stem from the examination of brain specimens of generous, dedicated SuperAgers who were followed for decades," said co-author Dr. Tamar Gefen, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Feinberg, director of Feinberg's Laboratory for Translational Neuropsychology and a neuropsychologist at the Mesulam Center. "I am constantly amazed by how brain donation can enable discovery long after death, offering a kind of scientific immortality." It's the gift that keeps on giving - literally.
The research is detailed in a perspective article titled "The First 25 Years of the Northwestern SuperAging Program." Additional contributors include Dr. Mesulam and Changiz Geula, a research professor of cell and developmental biology and neuroscience at Feinberg and a member of the Mesulam Center. Researchers hope these findings will guide future strategies to protect brain health and help more people maintain sharp thinking well into old age. Materials provided by Northwestern University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.