LOS ANGELES, Feb 8 — Old age is often associated with senility, yet certain individuals over age 80 manage to retain extraordinarily accurate memories, and a team of scientists suggests their unique brains could foster strategies for warding off dementia.

Called Cognitive SuperAgers, this elderly demographic is identifiable by their unusual brain characteristics, which include a thicker cortical region, a substantial amount of a neuron called von Economo that’s linked to high social intelligence and fewer tangles.

Tangles, according to the US-based Alzheimer’s Association, form within the brain’s nerve cells, interfering with the message-sending process, and are a primary marker of Alzheimer’s disease.

In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the research team examined the post-mortem brains of 31 SuperAgers using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology.

The SuperAgers’ cortex was thicker than that of 21 elderly participants with normal cognitive performance and larger than that of a group of 18 participants between 50 and 60 years of age.

The anterior cingulate cortex is related indirectly to memory through its influence on executive functions, conflict resolution, motivation and perseverance.

Five of the SuperAgers’ brains had approximately 87 per cent fewer tangles than those of their peers and 92 per cent less than those whose impairment had kicked into action.

The SuperAgers’ von Economo neuron count was approximately three to five times greater by comparison with the control groups.

“Identifying the factors that contribute to the SuperAgers’ unusual memory capacity may allow us to offer strategies to help the growing population of ‘normal’ elderly maintain their cognitive function and guide future therapies to treat certain dementias,” says first study author Tamar Gefen, a clinical neuropsychology doctoral candidate at Feinberg. — AFP Relaxnews