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SuperAgers Defy Cognitive Decline with Unique Brain Mechanisms

10/24/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Researchers at Northwestern Medicine identify mechanisms of SuperAgers and challenge the notion that cognitive decline is inevitable.
Since the program's inception in the late 1990s, 290 SuperAgers have participated, with 77 donating their brains for analysis.
The findings describe two mechanisms: resistance to amyloid plaques and tau tangles, or resilience despite their presence.
SuperAgers exhibit thicker anterior cingulate cortices and more von Economo neurons, linked to social behavior and memory.
The study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

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Story summary

Researchers at Northwestern Medicine identify mechanisms of SuperAgers and challenge the notion that cognitive decline is inevitable.
Since the program's inception in the late 1990s, 290 SuperAgers have participated, with 77 donating their brains for analysis.
The findings describe two mechanisms: resistance to amyloid plaques and tau tangles, or resilience despite their presence.
SuperAgers exhibit thicker anterior cingulate cortices and more von Economo neurons, linked to social behavior and memory.
The study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.