“Super agers”: The “super-secret” of the 80-year-olds who have a very good memory

If some people do not forget the slightest thing despite their advanced age, this may be due to the large size of some their vital brain cells. People over 80 who keep their memory almost intact have “super” neurons in their brains, significantly larger in size than the average of their peers, but also healthier, a new American scientific study reveals for the first time.

The researchers, led by assistant professor of psychiatry and neuropsychology Tamar Geffen of Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, who made the relevant publication in the journal “Journal of Neuroscience”, concluded that “larger neurons constitute a biological ‘signature’ of the course of Super-Aging” (Super-Aging).

The postmortem comparative study of the brains of six people with very good memory who died at an average age of 91, seven people who died at an average age of 89 and had typically impaired memory for their age, six people who died at an average age of 49 and five people in the early stage of Alzheimer’s, brought to light in the first group, in the brain area of ​​their memory that is particularly affected by dementia (the entorhinal cortex), the existence of neurons that are even larger than people 20 to 30 years younger in age.

It was found that old people with a wonderful memory (the so-called “super-agers”) had neurons by about 10% larger from the corresponding neurons in people who died at a similar age but had worse memory. The super-agers also had neurons about 5% larger than those who died 40 years younger. These super-neurons, in addition to their unusual size, also do not display “plaques” of toxic proteins, which are a characteristic pathological feature of Alzheimer’s disease.

“The remarkable observation that these people display larger neurons even than younger people may suggest that such large nerve cells were present from birth and structurally preserved throughout life,” said Dr. Geffen.

Greek assistant professor of neurology Alexandra Turoutoglou of Harvard Medical School, who has been studying “super-agers” for years, told the magazine “New Scientist” that the new study “adds to the growing evidence that super-agers agers differ from typical adults at multiple levels of the brain. The sample (of the study) is relatively small, but that is understandable. “Super-agers are a rare group, so it is difficult to find a large number of them for a post-mortem study of their brains.”

Scientists have been trying for years to understand why some people show immunity to Alzheimer’s disease and retain a wonderful memory despite their old age. The new research provides a biological explanation for why this might be the case, although the question remains as to why the ‘lucky’ have such large and healthy neurons until such an advanced age.

RES-EMP

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