Super-agers' brains look 30 years younger

Study looks at the brains of super-agers, finds their brains look up to 30 years younger

What you probably already know: Super-agers’ brains resist age-related decline and remain able to function like people 20-30 years younger. A new study out this week looked at the brains of 64 people in their 80s who were considered “super-agers” and 55 other older adults with normal memory abilities, and compared them via a set of memory, motor and verbal skills, as well as brain scans and blood draws. The study found that these super-agers’ brains had better connectivity and function in areas critical to memory, and showed little sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

Why? While many studies of aging brains have focused on those struggling with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, few have focused on people who have truly bucked that trend. What this study found is that brain degradation is not only not inevitable, there may be ways to prevent it. These 80-year-olds, for example, had brains that looked the same as healthy 50 or 60-year-olds. While it is relatively rare — researchers suggest it’s less than 10% of people in their 80s whose brains look this way —they also saw correlations with good physical health including blood pressure and metabolism.

What it means: The study helps scientists better understand some of the factors that could reduce the risk of developing brain atrophy as we age, and could lead to stronger recommendations around the importance of general health as you age. One particular item of note: These super-agers reported that they had been more active in middle age than others in the study, and they reported better mental health.

What happens now? More studies are needed, particularly around the factors that contribute to super-aging. The study’s authors, for example, point out that, for the most part, there were few differences in lifestyle between the super-agers and everyone else, which makes it difficult to diagnose what is really at play here.