Neuroscientists Identified What Gives ‘Super‑Agers’ Better Memory. These 2 Habits Help Your Brain Stay Young Longer

Some people in their 80s have memories as sharp as those of people decades younger.

BY LEILA SHERIDAN, NEWS WRITER

Researchers have long debated whether the human brain can generate new neurons in adulthood. A new study suggests it can, which may help explain why some older adults maintain extraordinary memory well into their 80s.

In a recent study published in Nature, scientists found that elderly adults known as “super-agers” had about twice as many newly formed neurons in their hippocampi—the brain region central to memory—than other older adults. Compared to people with Alzheimer’s disease, super-agers had about two and a half times as many newly formed neurons. 

The findings add new evidence to the controversial theory that adult brains continue producing neurons, a process called neurogenesis, and that the phenomenon may help preserve cognitive function in aging.

“This shows the aging brain has the capacity to regenerate—that’s huge,” study co-author Tamar Gefen, a clinical neuropsychologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told CNN.

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Super-agers are individuals in their 80s or older who can remember everyday events and personal experiences with the sharpness of someone decades younger. Despite their exceptional memory, their general intelligence scores typically resemble those of their peers, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

To understand what might distinguish them, researchers analyzed 38 donated human brains, including samples from super-agers in addition to several comparison groups: older adults with typical cognitive function, those with mild dementia, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, and younger adults ages 20 to 40.

The team searched for genetic markers associated with immature neurons that signal recent brain cell formation. While these markers appeared across all the brain samples, they were far more abundant in the hippocampi of super-agers than in the other elderly groups. Some super-agers even showed higher concentrations of new neurons than younger adults, Smithsonian Magazine reported. 

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