The first 25 years of the Northwestern University SuperAging Program.

ABSTRACT: During late life, "average" does not mean "intact." For example, cross-sectional data from a common word list learning test show that average delayed word recall raw score at age 80 (5/15) is approximately half that at age 56 to 66 (9/15). Cognitive and neurobiological dissolution is therefore implicitly incorporated into concepts of the aging brain. This position is being challenged through investigations on "superaging," a term that was coined at the Northwestern Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) to define persons ≥ 80 years with delayed word recall raw scores at least equal to those of individuals 20 to 30 years younger. During the first 25 years of this program we established that superagers constitute not only a neuropsychological but also a neurobiological phenotype distinct

SUBMITTER: Weintraub S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12329684 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature