In November 2023, AARP published an article called “Celebrating What’s Right With Aging: Inside the Minds of Super Agers.” Why do some people in their 80s and 90s show little decline in their cognitive abilities, while many of us struggle with slower memory, and others slide into dementia?

The following article paraphrases some portions of the AARP story. Find the whole article, with more detail and examples, here.

University of California, Irvine is running the 90+ Study, researching successful aging and dementia in people 90 or older. The study has recruited some 1,600 participants who demonstrate remarkable memory. Reseachers use MRIs and other scans along with biological markers in their quest to understand this exceptional group of “super-agers.” Many of the participants also allow the researchers to do post-mortem studies of their brains.

In general, super-agers are defined as people over 80 who have memories at least as good as people who are 20 to 30 years younger.

Many people think they have good memories, but super-agers are actually quite rare, says cognitive neuroscientist Emily Rogalski, who leads the SuperAging Research Initiative­ in five cities around the U.S. and Canada. Fewer than 10 percent of those who sign up to take part in her studies have the memory and mental capacity to meet the scientific criteria for being a super-ager, she says.

“Brain aging needs to match longevity,” says Matt Huentelman, who leads genetics studies for the SuperAging Research Initiative. “Today your body may make it to 100, but your brain poops out at 80.”

What they have found

Researchers studying super-agers have found that:

• Their brains shrink more slowly than those of others their age, maintaining their volume in the areas governing memory and focus. The anterior cingulate cortex, which affects thinking, memory and decision-making, is thicker in super-agers — sometimes even thicker than it is in most people in their 50s and 60s. In some super-agers, the brain regions linked to memory storage and retrieval were indistinguishable from those in young adults.
• The neurons responsible for memory are considerably larger in the brains of super-agers than they are in their peers and even in people 20 to 30 years younger. They also tend to be free of tau tangles, the webs of proteins that form inside the neurons of brains in people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
• Super-ager brains also have more of the cells associated with social intelligence and awareness. These cells aid rapid communication in the brain, which enhances the ability of super-agers to navigate the outside world.

These factors help keep the brains of super-agers from declining with age, and not just when they get to their 80s and 90s. Many super-agers may already have a significant advantage over their peers by their mid-60s.

But wait, there’s more!

Other factors play a role in the brain health of super-agers, too. For example:

• Their brains seem to be able to overcome the wear and tear that the brains of most people cannot. These include age-related issues like inflammation or clogged blood vessels. Amazingly, post-mortem studies of super-ager brains show that some had clinical signs of Alzheimer’s, but they never experienced the symptoms.

This ability to fight wear and tear may be genetic — scientists don’t yet know. But genes are like computer programs: having super-ager genes is the first step, but genes can be turned on or off by environmental factors and lifestyle choices.

• Life achievements can contribute to brain health as well — people with more education or career advancement tend to have a greater “cognitive reserve,” says Yaakov Stern, professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University. It may be that the natural mental abilities of super-agers make them more likely to pursue advanced studies or achieve successful careers, but we don’t know for sure. Researchers are planning to study this “chicken and egg” question when they look at the impact of socioeconomics on super-aging.
• Lifestyle is likely a significant factor, too. Researchers have identified four common habits of super-agers:

• A physically and intellectually active lifestyle.
• The willingness to constantly challenge themselves.
• An active social life and a wide social network.
• Moderation in all indulgences, allowing for things like the occasional glass of wine or decadent pastry.

Managing things like stress, mental health issues, and poor hearing or vision can also be important to maintaining a healthy brain. In addition, not all cognitive super-agers are also physically exceptional, says researcher Angela Roberts of the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging. They may suffer from some of the same diseases and take the same medications as average agers. Researchers are starting to look at factors like the vascular and cardiac health of super-agers versus non-super-agers, since vascular health is critical to brain health.

Some people attribute successful aging to a positive attitude. While that may be important, becoming a super-ager appears to result from a complex combination of factors, including genetics, a healthy lifestyle, education, career success and more.

“The hard part is proving it,” says Claudia Kawas, an investigator for UC Irvine’s 90+ Study. “Everyone wants it to be one thing, like blueberries or crossword puzzles. I don’t think it’s that simple. A good diet matters. Get as much education as you can. It doesn’t mean Nobel laureates don’t get Alzheimer’s, but [they do] at a lower rate. It confers lifelong prevention through some mechanism that we don’t understand yet.”

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