By Sandee LaMotte / CNN
People who have razor-sharp minds in their 80s and 90s — known as “SuperAgers” — produce twice the number of young neurons as cognitively healthy adults and 2.5 times as many as people with Alzheimer’s disease, a new study found.
“This shows the aging brain has the capacity to regenerate — that’s huge,” said study coauthor Dr. Tamar Gefen, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Mesulam Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
While a mature neuron is stable, a young neuron is the most adaptable and plastic type of brain cell, with an enhanced ability to grow, integrate and “wire itself into a brain,” said Gefen, who helps lead the Northwestern SuperAging Program. Researchers there have been studying elderly men and women with superior memories for 25 years.
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What is a ‘SuperAger’?
To be a “SuperAger,” a person must be older than 80 and undergo extensive cognitive testing that assesses the limits of their ability to recall information, Emily Rogalski, a professor of neurology at the University of Chicago, told CNN in an earlier interview. Rogalski, who was not an author on the study, helped develop the SuperAger program at Northwestern.
“SuperAgers are required to have outstanding episodic memory — the ability to recall everyday events and past personal experiences,” she said. “It’s important to point out when we compare the SuperAgers to the average agers, they have similar levels of IQ, so the differences we’re seeing are not just due to intelligence.”
SuperAgers also share similar traits. They tend to be positive and challenge their brain every day by reading or learning something new. Many are physically active and continue to work into their 80s. SuperAgers are also social butterflies, surrounded by family and friends, and they can often be found volunteering in their community.