Centenarian study finds some remain mentally sharp despite signs of Alzheimer's in their brains

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-01-16 03:00

International

CC-0

A Dutch study of 330 people over the age of 100 who considered themselves cognitively healthy found they maintained high levels of cognitive performance for up to four years, despite a slight decline in memory. Post mortems of 44 participants found signs of Alzheimer's disease in their brains, but this had not affected their cognitive abilities while still alive, the researchers say. The findings suggest that the resilience mechanisms which allowed the centenarians to reach such a ripe old age may also prolong cognitive health until exceptional ages, they add.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Funder: This work was supported by Stichting Alzheimer Nederland (No. WE09.2014-03), Stichting Dioraphte (No. VSM 14 04 1402), and Stichting Vumc Fonds. Research from the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam is part of the neurodegeneration research program of Amsterdam Neuroscience.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.