The `Super Agers ”, more than 80 show the performance of the memory of people 30 years younger

Many assume that memory loss and cognitive decline are an inevitable part of aging – but new research suggests that this should not be the case.

A 25 -year study by Northwestern University analyzed the brain of “super agers” to determine the features they share which can contribute to their mental resilience.

The “super agers” are defined as people aged 80 and over who have “exceptional memory performance” equally with those who have three less decades, according to the researchers.

“ Missing link ” to Alzheimer’s disease found in the study of human brain tissue

“” Super Ager “is not a condition, but rather a term that we defined in Northwestern on the basis of a score during a memory test over 80 years old,” the main author Sandra Weintraub, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Fox News Digital, told Fox News Digital.

“We were interested in the aging of memory because the decline of memory is the most common complaint in the elderly. We can be” super “in many ways, and that is only one.”

The “super agers” are defined as people aged 80 and over who show “exceptional memory performance” which are equal with those who have three decades less. (istock)

In the study, the researchers analyzed 79 brains which were given by the super agers and identified certain key differences compared to those who “generally age”.

Some brains contained amyloid and tau proteins, which generally accumulate in people with Alzheimer’s disease, while other brains have shown no sign of these toxins.

Alzheimer’s researchers say the targeting of brain sugar could help protect against dementia

“Some super agers have very few of these proteins, so for any reason, they do not make them,” noted Weintraub. “But we found that some super agers brains contained many of these proteins, despite the maintenance of their cognitive health until death.”

This means that there can be different biological paths to super aging-“resistance and the other resilience,” she said.

“If your parent is forgetful at 80, it may not be part of aging, but illness.”

With the resistance group, they do not make plates and tangles, said Weintraub. In the resilience group, they make them, but they have no impact on their brain.

While the “generally aging” brain shows a slimming of the cortex – which is the external layer of the brain which helps decision -making, motivation and regulation of emotions – the brain of super agers has not shown this characteristic.

Two cancer drugs are promising by reversing the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s

Super agers have also proven to have a greater number of “Von Economic neurons”, which are brain cells that control social behavior. Researchers also found that this group had more important “entorhin neurons”, which are essential to feed the memory, indicates the version.

In terms of behavior, super agers have also proved to be “very social” with solid interpersonal relationships, according to the results of the study.

Difficult hypotheses

“There is the common hypothesis that aging implicitly brings cognitive decline and that short -term memory loss is part of” normal aging “,” the main author Sandra Weintraub, professor of psychiatry and neurology at Northwestern Medicine, told Fox News Digital.

The risk of Alzheimer’s could increase with a specific sleep model, warn the experts

“The truth is in average, the cognitive test scores decrease, but the variance between individuals within this average period becomes greater with age,” she continued.

“This means that the loss is not inevitable and that if your parent is forgetful at 80, it may not be part of aging, but of the disease.”

Tamar Gefen, on the left, observes that Allegra Kawles points to an image of neurons and neuropathology while the new student in doctorate Antonia Zouridakis looks. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)

Christopher Weber, Ph.D., principal director of world science initiatives at the Alzheimer association in Chicago, was not involved in the study but commented on the “exciting” results.

“This increases our understanding of the brain of people as they age and gives an overview of what makes brain changes resilient or resistant to age -related brain changes,” Weber at Fox News Digital.

Click here to obtain the Fox News app

The study shows that super agers have a “more preserved brain structure” which is similar to much younger adults, according to Weber.

“The results suggest that cognitive decline is not an inevitable part of aging-especially for people with more protective factors that preserve health and brain cognition,” he said.

The researcher, Dr. Tamar Gefen, examines a slide from a super agers brain. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)

Weber, however, stressed that the “super aging” study population is small and not representative of the real world population.

“They are mainly well educated and white,” he said. “In addition, this group has been self-selected in the study. These people can be more concerned about health or cognitively committed than average elderly people.”

Click here to register for our Health Newsletter

However, the results could help scientists create more – and better – strategies to treat and prevent cognitive decline, according to Weber.

“The more we know about successful aging, the more we have to discover and create interventions to improve resistance and resilience.”

Reduce

To help reduce risk factors affecting brain, Weintraub said: “What’s good for your heart is good for your brain.”

“What is good for your heart is good for your brain.”

“We know that the adoption of certain lifestyle changes will reduce the risk of a bad result, but are not guaranteed to eradicate it,” she told Fox News Digital.

“That said, eat well, sleep well, exercise, socialize and appreciate social relationships, deal with the condition that you can deal with and avoid harmful substances.”

For more health items, visit www.foxnews.com/health

The study was supported by the Northwestern Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the National Institute on the Aging of the National Institutes of Health.

The results were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.