well bill we have no choice..so if some folk become super brains i hope i might be one..we will see..merle..still howling wolf So? Is this a good or bad thing in your opinion? ...Bill!
--- In [email protected], Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: > > > > Secrets of 'SuperAger' Brains: Elderly Super-Agers Have Brains That Look and > Act Decades Younger Than Their Age > > > > Do super-agers exist? A new study has for the first time identified an elite > group of > elderly people age 80 and older whose memories are as sharp as people 20 to > 30 years younger than them. (Credit: © Meddy Popcorn / Fotolia) > ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2012) â€" Researchers have long chronicled what goes > wrong in the brains of > older people with dementia. But Northwestern Medicine researcher Emily > Rogalski wondered what goes right in the brains of the elderly who still have > terrific memories. And, do those people -- call them cognitive > SuperAgers -- even exist? > Rogalski's new study has for the first time identified an elite group of > elderly people age 80 and older whose memories are as sharp as > people 20 to 30 years younger than them. And on 3-D MRI scans, the > SuperAger participants' brains appear as young -- and one brain region > was even bigger -- than the brains of the middle-aged participants. > She was astounded by the vitality of the SuperAgers' cortex -- the > outer layer of the brain important for memory, attention and other > thinking abilities. Theirs was much thicker than the cortex of the > normal group of elderly 80 and older (whose showed significant thinning) and > closely resembled the cortex size of participants ages 50 to 65, > considered the middle-aged group of the study. > "These findings are remarkable given the fact that grey matter or > brain cell loss is a common part of normal aging," said Rogalski, the > principal investigator of the study and an assistant research professor > at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at > Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. > Rogalski is senior author of the paper, which is published in the Journal of > the International Neuropsychological Society. > By identifying older people who seem to be uniquely protected from > the deterioration of memory and atrophy of brain cells that accompanies > aging, Rogalski hopes to unlock the secrets of their youthful brains. > Those discoveries may be applied to protect others from memory loss or > even Alzheimer's disease. > "By looking at a really healthy older brain, we can start to deduce > how SuperAgers are able to maintain their good memory," Rogalski said. > "Many scientists study what's wrong with the brain, but maybe we can > ultimately help Alzheimer's patients by figuring out what goes right in > the brain of SuperAgers. What we learn from these healthy brains may > inform our strategies for improving quality of life for the elderly and > for combatting Alzheimer's disease." > By measuring the thickness of the cortex -- the outer layer of the > brain where neurons (brain cells) reside -- Rogalski has a sense of how > many brain cells are left. > "We can't actually count them, but the thickness of the outer cortex > of the brain provides an indirect measure of the health of the brain," > she said. "A thicker cortex, suggests a greater number of neurons." > In another region deep in the brain, the anterior cingulate of > SuperAger participants' was actually thicker than in the 50 to 65 year > olds. > "This is pretty incredible," Rogalski said. "This region is important for > attention. Attention supports memory. Perhaps the SuperAgers have > really keen attention and that supports their exceptional memories." > Only 10 percent of the people who "thought they had outstanding > memories" met the criteria for the study. To be defined as a SuperAger, > the participants needed to score at or above the norm of the 50 to 65 > year olds on memory screenings. > "These are a special group of people," Rogalski said. They aren't growing on > trees." > For the study, Rogalski viewed the MRI scans of 12 Chicago-area > Superager participants' brains and screened their memory and other > cognitive abilities. The study included 10 normally aging elderly > participants who were an average age of 83.1 and 14 middle-aged > participants who were an average age of 57.9. There were not significant > differences in education among the groups. > Most of the SuperAger participants plan to donate their brains to the study. > "By studying their brains we can link the attributes of the > living person to the underlying cellular features," Rogalski said. > > . >
