{{Short description|Octogenarian who is cognitively much younger}} thumb|alt=Brain images| Computer tomographies of medial temporal lobe, posterior atrophy and frontal cortical atrophy. Superagers usually show less cortical atrophy.<ref name="McPhee"/>
A '''superager''' (also '''super-ager''') is a person of advanced biological age (80 years or older)<ref name="Wang">{{cite journal |last1=Mohammadiarvejeh |first1=Parvin |last2=Klinedinst |first2=Brandon |last3=Wang |first3=Qian |last4=Li |first4=Tianqi |last5=Larsen |first5=Brittany |last6=Pollpeter |first6=Amy |last7=Moody |first7=Shannin |last8=Willette |first8=Sara |last9=Mochel |first9=Jon |last10=Allenspach |first10=Karin |last11=Hu |first11=Guiping |last12=Willette |first12=Auriel |title=Bioenergetic and vascular predictors of potential super-ager and cognitive decline trajectories—a UK Biobank Random Forest classification study |journal=GeroScience |date=15 September 2022 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=491–505 |doi=10.1007/s11357-022-00657-6 |pmid=36104610 |pmc=9886787 }}</ref> who retains the cognitive performance of a much younger person.<ref name="Barrett">{{cite news |last1=BARRETT |first1=Lisa |title=How to Become a 'Superager' |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA475993729&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=22699740 |access-date=27 June 2025 |work=International New York Times |publisher=International Herald Tribune |date=31 December 2016}}</ref> The term was coined by the neurologist Marsel Mesulam.<ref name="Barrett"/> Individuals of this range of age who show normal performance are called "typical-agers" to differentiate them from superagers.<ref name="McPhee">{{cite journal |last1=McPhee |first1=Matthew |last2=McKetton |first2=Larissa |last3=LaPlume |first3=Annalise |last4=Troyer |first4=Angela K |last5=Anderson |first5=Nicole D |title=Sex Matters: Association with Superager Classification and Risk Factors |journal=Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology |date=13 August 2024 |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=13–21 |doi=10.1093/arclin/acae064 |pmid=39133886 |url=https://academic.oup.com/acn/article/40/1/13/7731852 |access-date=27 June 2025|pmc=11754649 }}</ref>
==Cause== A study by Mohammadiarvejeh et al.<ref name="Wang"/> suggests that optimal cognitive aging may not be strictly related to age, but to biological factors due to lifestyle or pharmacological changes. Superaging would be an example of successful ageing,<ref name="McPhee"/> also called active ageing. On the contrary, Milman et al.<ref name="Milman">{{cite journal |last1=Milman |first1=Sofiya |last2=Barzilai |first2=Nir |last3=Wilson |first3=Kara A. |last4=Van der Willik |first4=Odette |last5=Lederman |first5=Stephanie |last6=Perls |first6=Thomas |last7=Gao |first7=Tina |last8=Leahy |first8=Aoife |last9=Jain |first9=Praduman |last10=Montgomery |first10=Aisha |last11=Shuldiner |first11=Alan R. |title=SuperAger Initiative: unlocking the genetic potential of exceptional longevity |journal=Nature Aging |date=18 May 2023 |volume=3 |issue=6 |pages=627–628 |doi=10.1038/s43587-023-00429-7 |pmid=37202472 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-023-00429-7 |access-date=27 June 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> state that exceptional longevity is strongly influenced by genetics, and comparisons of lifestyle habits do not show significant differences between super-agers and typical-agers. Pascual et al.<ref name="Pascual">{{cite journal |last1=Pascual |first1=Marta Garo |last2=Zhang |first2=Linda |last3=Calero |first3=Miguel |last4=Medina |first4=Miguel |last5=Defelipe |first5=Javier |last6=Strange |first6=Bryan A |title=Telomere length in the superager sample of the Vallecas Project cohort |journal=Alzheimer's & Dementia |date=25 December 2023 |volume=19 |article-number=e076263 |doi=10.1002/alz.076263 |url=https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/alz.076263 |access-date=27 June 2025}}</ref> measured telomeres of 57 superagers and 48 typical-agers. Superagers had significantly shorter telomeres.
==Epidemiology== Superaging is more common in females.<ref name="McPhee"/> Men and women who are superagers have less dementia risk.<ref name="McPhee"/> In the same way, having fewer modifiable dementia risk factors may be positively associated with superager status, which suggests ways to, at some extent, prevent dementia.<ref name="McPhee"/>
In 2012, Harrison and colleagues began the systematic study of individuals in their 80s with episodic memory comparable to people 20 to 30 years younger. The first group was named "superagers". This condition has since been associated with greater regional cerebral volumes,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harrison |first1=Theresa M. |last2=Maass |first2=Anne |last3=Baker |first3=Suzanne L. |last4=Jagust |first4=William J. |title=Brain morphology, cognition, and β-amyloid in older adults with superior memory performance |journal=Neurobiology of Aging |date=July 2018 |volume=67 |pages=162–170 |doi=10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.03.024 |pmid=29665578 |pmc=5955827 }}</ref> slower rate of cortical atrophy,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cook |first1=Amanda H. |last2=Sridhar |first2=Jaiashre |last3=Ohm |first3=Daniel |last4=Rademaker |first4=Alfred |last5=Mesulam |first5=M.-Marsel |last6=Weintraub |first6=Sandra |last7=Rogalski |first7=Emily |title=Rates of Cortical Atrophy in Adults 80 Years and Older With Superior vs Average Episodic Memory |journal=JAMA |date=4 April 2017 |volume=317 |issue=13 |pages=1373–1375 |doi=10.1001/jama.2017.0627 |pmid=28384819 |pmc=5847263 }}</ref> less pathological burden associated with Alzheimer's disease,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gefen |first1=Tamar |last2=Peterson |first2=Melanie |last3=Papastefan |first3=Steven T. |last4=Martersteck |first4=Adam |last5=Whitney |first5=Kristen |last6=Rademaker |first6=Alfred |last7=Bigio |first7=Eileen H. |last8=Weintraub |first8=Sandra |last9=Rogalski |first9=Emily |last10=Mesulam |first10=M.-Marsel |last11=Geula |first11=Changiz |title=Morphometric and Histologic Substrates of Cingulate Integrity in Elders with Exceptional Memory Capacity |journal=The Journal of Neuroscience |date=28 January 2015 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=1781–1791 |doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2998-14.2015 |pmid=25632151 |pmc=4308613 }}</ref> and genetic mutations in memory signaling pathways.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huentelman |first1=Matthew J. |last2=Piras |first2=Ignazio S. |last3=Siniard |first3=Ashley L. |last4=De Both |first4=Matthew D. |last5=Richholt |first5=Ryan F. |last6=Balak |first6=Chris D. |last7=Jamshidi |first7=Pouya |last8=Bigio |first8=Eileen H. |last9=Weintraub |first9=Sandra |last10=Loyer |first10=Emmaleigh T. |last11=Mesulam |first11=M.-Marsel |last12=Geula |first12=Changiz |last13=Rogalski |first13=Emily J. |title=Associations of MAP2K3 Gene Variants With Superior Memory in SuperAgers |journal=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |date=29 May 2018 |volume=10 |article-number=155 |doi=10.3389/fnagi.2018.00155 |pmid=29896098 |doi-access=free |pmc=5987172 }}</ref><ref name="McPhee"/> The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is the most usual tool used to spot superagers.<ref name="McPhee"/>
== Prevention factors == In a 2021 study of 1,679 people,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maccora |first1=Janet |last2=Peters |first2=Ruth |last3=Anstey |first3=Kaarin J. |title=Gender Differences in Superior-memory SuperAgers and Associated Factors in an Australian Cohort |journal=Journal of Applied Gerontology |date=April 2021 |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=433–442 |doi=10.1177/0733464820902943 |pmid=32003281 |hdl=1959.4/unsworks_67747 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> females superagers had higher education, more units of weekly alcohol intake, and more participation in cognitively engaging activities relative to typical-agers. In males, superagers also had higher education, but reported more social activities per week and less depressive symptoms.<ref name="McPhee"/>
Superagers engage more in social interactions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cook Maher |first1=Amanda |last2=Kielb |first2=Stephanie |last3=Loyer |first3=Emmaleigh |last4=Connelley |first4=Maureen |last5=Rademaker |first5=Alfred |last6=Mesulam |first6=M.-Marsel |last7=Weintraub |first7=Sandra |last8=McAdams |first8=Dan |last9=Logan |first9=Regina |last10=Rogalski |first10=Emily |title=Psychological well-being in elderly adults with extraordinary episodic memory |journal=PLOS ONE |date=23 October 2017 |volume=12 |issue=10 |article-number=e0186413 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0186413 |pmid=29059208 |pmc=5653294 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1286413C |doi-access=free }}</ref> Factors such as body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and smoking status were not found significant.<ref name="McPhee"/>
==See also== * Supercentenarian
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Ageing