Youthful memory capacity in old brains: anatomic and genetic clues from the Northwestern SuperAging Project

J Cogn Neurosci. 2013 Jan;25(1):29-36. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00300.

Abstract

The Northwestern University SuperAging Project recruits community dwellers over the age of 80 who have unusually high performance on tests of episodic memory. In a previous report, a small cohort of SuperAgers was found to have higher cortical thickness on structural MRI than a group of age-matched but cognitively average peers. SuperAgers also displayed a patch of ACC where cortical thickness was higher than in 50- to 60-year-old younger cognitively healthy adults. In additional analyses, some SuperAgers had unusually low densities of age-related Alzheimer pathology and unusually high numbers of von Economo neurons in the anterior cingulate gyrus. SuperAgers were also found to have a lower frequency of the ɛ4 allele of apolipoprotein E than the general population. These preliminary results show that above-average memory capacity can be encountered in advanced age. They also offer clues to potential biological factors that may promote resistance to age-related involutional changes in the structure and function of the brain.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging / physiology*
  • Alleles
  • Apolipoprotein E4 / genetics
  • Brain / anatomy & histology
  • Brain / cytology
  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain / physiology
  • Female
  • Gyrus Cinguli / anatomy & histology
  • Gyrus Cinguli / cytology
  • Gyrus Cinguli / pathology
  • Gyrus Cinguli / physiology
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Memory, Episodic*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests

Substances

  • Apolipoprotein E4