# Superager > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Superager > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Superager.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superager > Source revision: 1350431565 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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. A '''superager''' (also '''super-ager''') is a person of advanced biological age (80 years or older){{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 }} who retains the cognitive performance of a much younger person.{{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}} The term was coined by the neurologist Marsel Mesulam. Individuals of this range of age who show normal performance are called "typical-agers" to differentiate them from superagers.{{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 }} ==Cause== A study by Mohammadiarvejeh et al. 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](/source/Ageing), also called [active ageing](/source/active_ageing). On the contrary, Milman et al.{{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 }} 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.{{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}} measured [telomere](/source/telomere)s of 57 superagers and 48 typical-agers. Superagers had significantly shorter telomeres. ==Epidemiology== Superaging is more common in females. Men and women who are superagers have less [dementia](/source/dementia) risk. 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. In 2012, Harrison and colleagues began the systematic study of individuals in their 80s with [episodic memory](/source/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,{{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 }} slower rate of cortical atrophy,{{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 }} less pathological burden associated with [Alzheimer's disease](/source/Alzheimer's_disease),{{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 }} and genetic mutations in memory signaling pathways.{{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 }} The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is the most usual tool used to spot superagers. == Prevention factors == In a 2021 study of 1,679 people,{{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 }} 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. Superagers engage more in social interactions.{{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 }} Factors such as [body mass index](/source/body_mass_index), diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and smoking status were not found significant. ==See also== * [Supercentenarian](/source/Supercentenarian) ==References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} Category:Ageing --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Superager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superager) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superager?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.