HEALTHY LIVING
How Super- Agers Avoid Dementia
New research shows we can protect brains from cognitive decline. ::
In the Northwestern study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, when participants died and their brains were donated, researchers discovered that super-agers also had neurons consistent with those of people 20 to 30 years younger. Their brains were resistant to
aging, and even when they had signs of aging, they had no symptoms of dementia, called cognitive resilience. While genetics may play a role,
research shows that cognitive resilience can also be learned. “Resilience means to bounce back,
like a young tree after a storm,” says Wengel. “For most of us, some brain aging
BY CHRIS ILIADES, M.D. R
esearchers at Northwestern University have spent 25 years studying the brains of people over
age 80 who they call “super-agers.” Their new findings suggest that
cognitive decline is not inevitable. As we grow older, we naturally
lose brain cells, called neurons, which make up the gray matter responsible for thinking and learning. The brain also shrinks and may
accumulate small dead areas known as microin-farcts and waste deposits called amyloid, which can interfere with communication between neurons and lead to Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.
92 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | JANUARY 2026 “Years ago in medical school,
we were taught that there are only a set number of neurons and that a relentless loss of neurons occurs inevitably and relentlessly with age,” says Steven Wengel, M.D., professor of psychiatry and assistant vice chancellor for wellness at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. “Only in the last 10-plus years has
that assumption been challenged by research suggesting we may be able to preserve many neurons and, in some areas of the brain, even replace them,” Super-agers, who may make up
about 10% of people over age 80, perform as well on memory tests as people 20 to 30 years younger.
is part of the bumps and bruises of life, but in the last 10 years, we have learned that resilience and prevention are possible, and dementia is not inevitable.”
SOCIAL ISOLATION One of the strongest traits among super-agers is sociability. They tend to have strong relationships and active social lives. When researchers examined
their brains, they found that regions linked to social behavior were larger than expected. A 2024 review in The Lancet also
found that loneliness and social isolation are major risk factors for dementia. The National Institute on Aging reports that prolonged isolation can
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