A study on what are called “superagers” shows that not all older people lose memory as they age.
This study looked at those over 80….
“Then we found something even more surprising, which was even harder to believe,” she says. “In an area called the anterior cingulate of the brain, it was actually thicker in the superagers than it was in the 50-year-olds.” The anterior cingulate is a small brain region important for attention and memory.
A youthful cortex and thicker cingulate suggest to Rogalski that these two brain regions have been spared the typical age-related shrinkage, which may be what protects against the memory decline seen in most elderly people. Superagers also have fewer risk genes for Alzheimer’s than typical 80-year-olds, she notes.
 I am not sure why some brains at 80 look like younger ones, but I love this kind of research!
We need to learn much more about how to keep our bodies and brains healthier as we age!!
Thoughts? Comments?
thank you
Thanks for this information about our brains and memory. My father suffered from Traumatic Brain Injury after an accident and I learned a lot about the brain. However, I’m finding that I have memory lapses from time to time. Not sure if it’s age, too much information stored or something else. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Tandy and thank you for your comment.
We all have brain lapses. My brain is about the same as it was when I was younger and I had lapses back then – so not anything to worry about. We all brains have lapses but as we get older everyone, including ourselves, tend to blame it on the aging factor 🙂
Lynn
Yes! I love this kind of research too! Any hints for a younger vibrant brain will make us feel younger and become productive even at a very old age 🙂 Thanks Lynn for an uplifting post.
Yes the brain is a fascinating topic and we are learning more about it as we have better and better technology. And yes, as you suggest, it might help us not only feel younger, but keep our brains functioning at high levels.
Thanks for the comment.
Lynn
good read. i am wondering what percentage of people, have good memory at old ages.
Hi Amar and thank you for your comment. The study I cited here had a relatively small sample so hopefully a larger group can be studied and we can answer your good question.
Lynn
I read an article that claimed these “superagers” showed fewer fiber-like tangles in the brain. That is very interesting, and it should be a good study to find out what makes a sharper elder!
Thanks for the comment Jen. Yes the brains are different and it will be interesting to see future research on all this and then hope that research helps younger people develop the type of brain a superager has.
Lynn
Well, I sure hope that I have one of those thicker brains!
Interesting Information to ponder on. Thanks Lynn
Healthy Blessings,
Gena 🙂
Me too 🙂 Thanks for your comment. I am planning some research of my own on healthy agers…it intrigues me as I get older myself.
Lynn