A study by Northwestern University in the US called people with exceptional cognitive abilities for their age ‘super-elderly’. What are the details of this condition, according to two experts consulted by Infobae?
Becoming super-elderly is probably partly due to genetic lottery, but there are many lifestyle factors that can be modified to be like them.
Memory capacity inevitably declines with age. This is because as we age, the brain begins to slowly shrink. About 40% of people over 65 have age-related memory problems, and nearly 1% of these cases progress to dementia each year. However, a study discovered a group of older adults, whom they called ‘SuperAgers’ or ‘SuperSeniors’, whose brains were resistant to brain deterioration.
What makes them so special? They are over 80 years old but retain the cognitive characteristics of an adult 20 to 30 years younger.
According to a study conducted at Northwestern University in the United States and published in The Journal of Neuroscience last November, the neurons located in the entorhinal cortex, responsible for memory, are considerably larger in these individuals. This discovery could be the key to preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Lisandro Olmos, director of the postgraduate course in Neurological Rehabilitation at the Barceló Foundation, explained this discovery to Infobae: “This is a very interesting study that shows that it is possible to reach an advanced age, over 80, with preserved cognitive abilities similar to those of young people. The importance of this study lies in the fact that they have associated the number of neurons in the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus and the size of this cortex with young people and have observed that these “super-elderly” have an increase in the number of neurons in these areas of the brain that are so sensitive and have such an influence on memory mechanisms.”
For his part, neurologist and medical director of the Buenos Aires Institute of Neurology (INBA), Alejandro Andersson, told Infobae that longevity is the maintenance of the functional capacity of our organism, our body and brain, over time. It is the delay in the ageing process, which depends on genetics and lifestyle.
“What I can say from my personal experience is that I met two women, one aged 105 and the other 108, who shared a number of common characteristics. They were very lucid, very knowledgeable, with detailed memories, they remained physically active, had a positive outlook on life, liked to learn something new every day, enjoyed social activities, and the 105-year-old in particular loved to host gatherings at her home and told me that she cooked and even mopped the patio,” explained Andersson.
Super-aged individuals have a larger than normal group of neurons in a brain structure involved in memory. These could be related to the concept of cognitive reserve.
However, he pointed out that these habits could have a biological basis because “the “superpower” that these lucid people have has to do with a different biological, neurological, cerebral structure, where there are large, “extra-large” neurons that allow them to be who they are. They have a group of neurons that are larger than normal in a brain structure involved in memory preservation, layer 2 of the hippocampi of the entorhinal cortex, and this is closely related to cognitive reserve. The presence of these ‘superneurons’ in this location is not found in people of the same age who suffer from cognitive impairment, nor in those aged 60 and 65 who are beginning to show memory disorders,” he described.
He then explained why this characteristic is associated with dementia: ‘These neurons are located in the very first part of the brain where Alzheimer’s is noticed, that is, where neurons normally die and the disease progresses because an abnormal protein, beta-amyloid, is deposited,’ he said.
All of the above would explain why neuronal degeneration does not occur in super-elderly people, or at least not at the rate typical of an elderly person, and why they maintain the cognitive abilities of a person 20 or 30 years younger.
At 80 years of age, most people can remember almost half of what they could when they were 50. Super-elderly people remember much more because their memory corresponds to that of someone 20 or 30 years younger.
Dr Andersson explained that the question is how to achieve these ‘superneurons’. ‘We don’t know if we can promote their development and, furthermore, at what age we should do so. Should treatments be given to older adults, middle-aged adults, young people, or is it something that needs to be done in childhood? This is very new and we still lack data,’ he concluded.
Three trajectories in ageing
Emily Rogalski is a cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and associate director of the Mesulam Centre for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease. She was part of the research team that coined the term ‘superagers’ 15 years ago for people with such exceptional memory.
What researchers are learning from them and about dementia prevention could lead to the discovery of new protective factors in lifestyle, genetics, and resilience to the common changes that come with ageing. ‘It’s exciting to know that there are good trajectories of ageing,’ Rogalski said. ‘It is possible to live long and well,’ she said.
Connecting with people, having friends and belonging to groups contribute to good mental health.
According to the researcher, the effects of ageing on our cognition can present themselves in these ways:
1. Pathological trajectory: cognition deteriorates faster than expected for age, as in the case of dementia. Its biggest risk factor is ageing. A 2020 Lancet report estimates that about 40 per cent of dementias can be prevented.
2. Normal or average trajectory: Memory and cognitive abilities may begin to decline around the age of 30 or 40. Most 80-year-olds, on certain memory tests, can remember about half of what they could when they were 50, Rogalski said. Despite being less sharp, older people who follow this trajectory can still function and thrive in everyday life. But there is a lot of individual variability.
3. The third trajectory: super-elderly people, who after age 80 seem to have at least the same mental acuity and memory as those in their 50s and 60s.
‘The word I would use to describe this group is “resilient”,’ said Rogalski. Many super-aged individuals endured hardships, including extreme poverty, the loss of family members at an early age, or survival in Holocaust concentration camps, he said.
Social interaction, diet, exercise, and control of cardiovascular factors are the best tools for protecting health, mental cognitive abilities, and memory.
Dr Olmos pointed out that the advice on achieving fulfilment in old age is already well known and emphasised: “Physical exercise is one of the most appropriate activities that can be recommended, along with a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet. It is also important to control cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and smoking. It is also known that social interaction improves long-term cognitive abilities and helps people reach their eighties with more preserved intellectual abilities,” he concluded.
Common lifestyle habits of supercentenarians
Supercentenarians share a lifestyle, according to the Northwestern University study. These are the activities they engage in:
1. They remain physically active.
This is one of the best things you can do as you age. “Physical activity results in greater oxygen intake, which helps the body function optimally. Exercise helps the heart, and muscle-strengthening exercises specifically reduce the risk of falls. Regular exercise also helps maintain a healthy weight. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease triples in people with a body mass index (BMI) over 30. Even exercising twice a week will help reduce the chances of developing the disease in the future,” explained the study’s authors.
Mental training, doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and learning something new contribute to good memory and delay cognitive decline.
2. They challenge their brains
Mental activity can be as important as physical activity. Sudoku, reading, or taking a course that takes you out of your comfort zone will help stimulate and ‘work’ your brain in new ways.
3. They have strong social relationships
According to the study, ‘SuperAgers’ have large neurons called Von Economo neurons, which are believed to play a role in social processing and consciousness. Dr Rogalski said that autopsies of SuperAgers revealed that they have four to five times more of these neurons than the average octogenarian.
‘It’s not as simple as saying, “If you have a strong social network, you’ll never get Alzheimer’s disease,”’ Dr Rogalski said. ‘But if there is a list of healthy choices one can make, such as eating a healthy diet and not smoking, maintaining strong social networks may be one of the first on that list.’ Activities such as visiting family and friends, volunteering for an organisation, and attending different events have been associated with better cognitive function.
Conversely, low social participation in older age is associated with an increased risk of dementia. These facts validate the idea that the environment is a major factor in our ageing.
Sport and company: an infallible combination for preserving physical and mental health.
4. They enjoy life
The super-aged people studied by American specialists, said Dr Rogalski, are enthusiastic about physical exercise and may also enjoy a glass of wine every night. According to the study, moderate drinkers were 23 per cent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or memory problems than non-drinkers.
The key here is moderation. It is equally important to note that drinking more than the recommended amount is considered a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
We are what we eat
Although not all of the super-seniors in Rogalski’s group had perfect diets, certain diets are recommended for optimal brain health. The MIND diet, which combines the Mediterranean and DASH diets, has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Consulted by Infobae in a recent article, Conrado Estol, an Argentine specialist in neurology, health and well-being and founder of the Breyna Clinic in Buenos Aires, said: ‘Although genetics cannot be changed, leading a healthy lifestyle and following a brain-protective diet, such as MIND, reduces the risk of dementia and/or cognitive impairment in healthy, young people.’
The MIND Diet is a combination of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet: it can reduce the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
A Mediterranean diet consists of eating healthy, unprocessed foods such as fish, vegetables, fruit and legumes.
The lesser-known DASH diet requires a reduced sodium intake through a diet that includes whole grains and vegetables.
The combination results in a diet that encourages the consumption of berries, leafy green vegetables, olive oil, whole grains, legumes and even wine. A combined diet works by reducing the risk of inflammation and oxidative stress, two possible causes of chronic diseases and other illnesses.
