SuperAgers past 80 lost brain volume half as fast

Researchers at Northwestern University had already identified a rare group they called SuperAgers, adults over 80 whose memory performance matched people decades younger, and wanted to know whether their brains were actually aging more slowly or just starting from a higher baseline.

The team scanned 24 SuperAgers and 12 average-memory peers of the same age twice, about 18 months apart. SuperAgers lost about 1.1 percent of their cortical volume a year, against 2.2 percent for their peers, roughly half the rate.

Because the scans were repeated in the same people, the result tracked an actual difference in the rate of decline, not just a one-time snapshot of a healthier-looking brain. The SuperAger group remains small and self-selected by exceptional memory performance, so it is not yet clear whether anything about their lifestyle, genetics, or biology could be deliberately reproduced in people who are not already SuperAgers.

Some brains simply refused to age on schedule.