SuperAger Brains Shrink More Slowly Than Peers’ Brains

Summary: Typical agers lose brain volume twice as fast as SuperAgers, a new study reports.

Source: Northwestern University.

Cortex of super-aged brain deteriorated much slower than average elderly brain over time.

Donald Tenbrunsel is 89 years old, but he is just as likely to talk to you about Chance the Rapper as reminisce about Frank Sinatra.

The highly engaged and delightful conversationalist, who reads, volunteers and routinely researches questions on the Internet, is part of a new path-breaking Northwestern Medicine study that shows that SuperAgers’ brains shrink much slower than their age-matched peers, resulting in a greater resistance to “typical” memory loss and dementia.

Over the course of the 18-month study, normal agers lost volume in the cortex twice as fast as SuperAgers, a rare group of people aged 80 and above whose memories are as sharp as those of healthy persons decades younger.

“Increasing age is often accompanied by ‘typical’ cognitive decline or, in some cases, more severe cognitive decline called dementia,” said first author Amanda Cook, a clinical neuropsychology doctoral student in the laboratory of Emily Rogalski and Sandra Weintraub. “SuperAgers suggest that age-related cognitive decline is not inevitable.”

The study was published today, April 4, in JAMA. Senior author Emily Rogalski will present the findings at the 2017 Cognitive Aging Summit in Bethesda, Maryland, April 6.

SuperAger Tenbrunsel, who lives with his daughter’s family, is intent on being a good conversationalist with his three grandchildren.

“I have to adapt to that kind of life,” Tenbrunsel said. “They don’t know much about Frank Sinatra or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, so I have to keep saying, ‘Is the Chance the Rapper coming this week or is it Taylor Swift?'”

The researchers already knew SuperAgers’ brains tended to retain more brain volume and typically don’t show the same wear-and-tear as normal agers.

Image shows brain shrinkage is an aging brain.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists measured the thickness of the cortex in 24 SuperAgers and 12 same-age, educationally and cognitive average peers (control group) to determine the approximate health of the brain over 18 months. The annual percent decline in thickness between the first and second visit for the SuperAgers was 1.06 and 2.24 for the control group. NeuroscienceNews.com image is adapted from the Northwestern University news release.

“For this study we explored whether SuperAgers’ brains were on a different trajectory of decline,” said Rogalski, associate professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center (CNADC) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We found that SuperAgers are resistant to the normal rate of decline that we see in average elderly, and they’re managing to strike a balance between life span and health span, really living well and enjoying their later years of life.”

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists measured the thickness of the cortex in 24 SuperAgers and 12 same-age, educationally and cognitive average peers (control group) to determine the approximate health of the brain over 18 months. The annual percent decline in thickness between the first and second visit for the SuperAgers was 1.06 and 2.24 for the control group.

Previous research showed that SuperAgers have a thicker cortex than those who age normally. By studying what makes SuperAgers unique, the scientists said they hope to undercover biological factors, such as the reduced cortical brain atrophy demonstrated here, that might contribute to the maintenance of memory ability in advanced age.

SuperAger research at Northwestern is flipping the traditional approach to Alzheimer’s research of focusing on brains that are underperforming to instead focusing on outperforming brains.

“Sometimes it’s useful to turn a complex problem on its head and look from a different vantage point,” Rogalski said. “The SuperAging program studies people at the opposite end of the spectrum: those with unexpectedly high memory performance for their age.”

About this neurology research article

Other Northwestern authors on the study include Jaiashre Sridhar, Daniel Ohm, Alfred Rademaker, Dr. M. Marsel Mesulam and Sandra Weintraub.

Funding: The research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, including R01AG045571 and P30 AG13854 from the National Institute on Aging, T32 NS047987 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, as well as the Davee Foundation.

Source: Kristin Samuelson – Northwestern University
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is adapted from the Northwestern University news release.
Video Source: The video is credited to NorthwesternU.
Original Research: Abstract for “Rates of Cortical Atrophy in Adults 80 Years and Older With Superior vs Average Episodic Memory” by Amanda H. Cook, MA; Jaiashre Sridhar, MS; Daniel Ohm, BS; Alfred Rademaker, PhD; M.-Marsel Mesulam, MD; Sandra Weintraub, PhD; and Emily Rogalski, PhD in JAMA. Published online April 4 2017 doi:10.1001/jama.2017.0627

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Northwestern University “SuperAger Brains Shrink More Slowly Than Peers’ Brains.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 4 April 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-shrinkage-superagers-6337/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Northwestern University (2017, April 4). SuperAger Brains Shrink More Slowly Than Peers’ Brains. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved April 4, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-shrinkage-superagers-6337/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Northwestern University “SuperAger Brains Shrink More Slowly Than Peers’ Brains.” https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-shrinkage-superagers-6337/ (accessed April 4, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Rates of Cortical Atrophy in Adults 80 Years and Older With Superior vs Average Episodic Memory

“SuperAgers” have previously been defined as adults 80 years and older with episodic memory ability at least as good as that of average middle-age adults. They have a significantly thicker brain cortex than their same-age peers with average-for-age memory, which is unusual as age-related cortical atrophy is considered “normal” and often associated with cognitive decline in nondemented older adults. SuperAgers may experience similar atrophy rates as their cognitively average peers but start with larger brain volumes, or they may resist age-related cortical atrophy. To examine the latter possibility, we quantitated rates of cortical volume change over 18 months in SuperAgers and cognitively average elderly adults.

“Rates of Cortical Atrophy in Adults 80 Years and Older With Superior vs Average Episodic Memory” by Amanda H. Cook, MA; Jaiashre Sridhar, MS; Daniel Ohm, BS; Alfred Rademaker, PhD; M.-Marsel Mesulam, MD; Sandra Weintraub, PhD; and Emily Rogalski, PhD in JAMA. Published online April 4 2017 doi:10.1001/jama.2017.0627

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