Here’s to the super-agers – especially our favorite!
Scientists are learning more all the time about what helps some of us maintain high levels of cognition as we age. Studies of so-called super-agers – those who stay highly cognitively sharp into their 80s and beyond – are advancing this understanding. You may recall the story of a particular man who definitely met the criteria. When 110-year-old Morrie Markoff passed away two summers ago, his family donated his brain to the Brain Donor Project, and scientists believed it could be the oldest cognitively intact brain ever donated for neuroscience research. Much will be understood from the brain of this man with an eighth-grade education who kept an active blog until his final months and loved reading Scientific American to discuss with anyone interested.
Just last month, a new study suggested a possible reason: some aging brains continue to produce a much higher concentration of new neurons than others, even well into old age. Until now, scientists weren’t sure that this production of neurons, called neurogenesis, continued, nor did they understand its impacts. But they studied donated brain tissue from a wide age range of people with varying memory capacities, which helped identify how certain changes could create what they call a “resilience signature.” These are very exciting findings that advance the science of healthy aging, especially now that we’re living longer than ever.
We can’t help but honor our own remarkable super-ager on her 90th birthday this month. Rita Armentrout is the widow of the man who inspired The Brain Donor Project—her late husband Gene, who passed away from Lewy Body Dementia nearly 11 years ago. She has also been an inspiration with kindness, fond memories, and much love throughout her long life. She does the NYT puzzles daily, stays very current on world and domestic affairs, and creates beautiful quilts for her great-grandchildren—some of whom are on the way right now. If you have a moment and want a reason to celebrate something positive, here’s your chance to raise a glass and join us in saying Happy Birthday, Rita!
