Exploring the secrets of super-aging: a UK Biobank study on brain health and cognitive function

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-22-2022

Publication Title

GeroScience

Abstract

Communities across the globe are faced with a rapidly aging society, where age is the main risk factor for cognitive decline and development of Alzheimer’s and related diseases. Despite extensive research, there have been no successful treatments yet. A rare group of individuals called “super-agers” have been noted to thrive with their exceptional ability to maintain a healthy brain and normal cognitive function even in old age. Studying their traits, lifestyles, and environments may provide valuable insight. This study used a data-driven approach to identify potential super-agers among 7121 UK Biobank participants and found that these individuals have the highest total brain volume, best cognitive performance, and lowest functional connectivity. The researchers suggest a novel hypothesis that these super-agers possess enhanced neural processing efficiency that increases with age and introduce a definition of the “neural efficiency index.” Furthermore, several other types of aging were identified and significant structural–functional differences were observed between them, highlighting the benefit of research efforts in personalized medicine and precision nutrition.

First Page

2471

Last Page

2480

PubMed ID

36947307

Volume

45

Issue

4

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