Can ‘super-ager’ brains help in the fight against Alzheimer’s?

A new study has uncovered why some 80- 90-year-olds ‘super-agers,’ have better memory and thinking function than others and how their brains are different from those living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, in Chicago, used brain tissue to look at ‘super-agers’ brains, compared to healthy brains, both young and old; and the brains of people with early dementia and Alzheimer’s.

They found that 'super-ager' brains actively produce more nerve cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory, than brains with Alzheimer’s.

Why are nerve cells important?

Nerve cells support almost every human function - including the brain. In the hippocampus new nerve cells are produced throughout one’s life.

Earlier research in primates suggested that the growth of new nerve cells, a process known as neurogenesis, plays an important role in maintaining strong memory in later life.

This study shows that the same process also occurs in humans, offering important insight into why some older adults may preserve brain function and potentially resist dementia.

By using brain tissue from the hippocampus, researchers uncovered that people living with early-stage cognitive decline, right before dementia symptoms start to appear, had minimal new nerve cell growth.

Significantly, the brains of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease produced almost no new nerve cells. In contrast, ‘super-agers’ had twice the nerve cell growth compared to healthy older adults.

Scientists hope that further research into nerve cell growth in the brain, and in particular the hippocampus, could support the development of Alzheimer’s treatments.