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.AdvertisementAdvertisement“SuperAgers are showing the preservation of immature neurons with heightened excitability — they are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to fire,” she said. “That is a more youthful brain.”In addition, the study found SuperAger brains contained more robust support systems in the hippocampus — the part of the brain responsible for memory — that nurture youthful neurons much like a young sapling is nourished when planted in nutrient-rich dirt.“This research shows SuperAgers have a unique cellular environment in their hippocampus which supports neurogenesis,” Gefen said. “This is biological proof SuperAgers have more plastic brains.”Neurogenesis, which is the birth and survival of new neurons, enhances brain plasticity — the ability of the brain to repair itself to maintain good cognitive function in the face of injury and the process of aging.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn fact, the brains of SuperAgers contained more newly developed neurons than younger adults in their 30s and 40s, said senior author Orly Lazarov, a professor of neuroscience and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Training Program at the University of Illinois, Chicago.“The profile of neurogenesis in the SuperAgers shows resilience,” Lazarov said in an email. “So they are able to cope with the ravages of time.”A SuperAger takes a cognitive test in the lab. – From Shane Col …
