- Researchers have developed a new brain-imaging tool that may help identify cognitive decline risk before symptoms appear by detecting Alzheimer’s-like brain patterns in cognitively healthy older adults.
- The tool was able to distinguish between SuperAgers and people with Alzheimer’s disease with good accuracy.
- Experts explain that studying SuperAgers can help researchers understand what makes some brains more resilient to age-related cognitive decline, which may lead to earlier identification strategies and preventive interventions for Alzheimer’s disease.
Research published in November in Science Advances explores the ability of a new tool to distinguish differences in cognitive function between SuperAgers and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.
The study defines SuperAgers as adults ages 75 years or older with “superior episodic memory performance” compared with adults under the age of 65. They also have executive function “comparable to age-matched older adults.”
The researchers developed the new brain-scoring imaging tool, called Alzheimer’s Resilience-Vulnerability Connectome, to compare the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of SuperAgers and people with symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.
This allowed them to map a spectrum of brain aging that could help predict cognitive decline.
While these early findings show some promise in monitoring cognitive function for potential risk of Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear, further research is necessary.
ARC distinguished SuperAgers from Alzheimer’s with 0.85 accuracy.
ARC distinguished SuperAgers from those with Alzheimer’s disease with an accuracy of 0.85 (AUC).
To reach this score, the researchers used the tool to examine data from 180 SuperAgers and 110 people with Alzheimer’s disease. Each person was at least 75 years old.
They then used ARC to examine data from 818 cognitively healthy people in a slightly younger age group. ARC was able to map where each individual fell on the spectrum between Alzheimer’s disease and SuperAgers.
Medical News Today spoke with Dung Trinh, MD, internist, of MemorialCare Medical Group and Chief Medical Officer of Healthy Brain Clinic in Irvine, CA, about these findings.
“An AUC of 0.85 is a good result and suggests that ARC can distinguish fairly well between the brain connectivity patterns of SuperAgers and those of people with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Trinh, who was not involved in the study.
“It measures how well the model separates two groups, and, in this case, the researchers were comparing people at opposite ends of the cognitive spectrum. When the model was tested in an independent group, the AUC was lower, around 0.72. So, while the results are encouraging, we still have work to do before considering this clinically useful.,” he added.
“What I find significant is that researchers were able to detect measurable differences in how brain regions communicate. This gives us another potential way to study cognitive aging beyond looking at memory test scores or Alzheimer’s biomarkers. The bigger question is whether these patterns can reliably tell us who will develop cognitive impairment years down the road.
–Dung Trinh, M.D.
The importance of studying SuperAgers
MNT asked Trinh about the importance of studying SuperAgers in relation to Alzheimer’s disease.
“(T)hese are individuals who are aging exceptionally well from a cognitive standpoint. We spend so much time studying what goes wrong in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, but I think it’s just as important to understand what is going right in people who maintain excellent memory into their 80s and 90s,” Trinh said.
“By comparing brain activity in SuperAgers with that of people with Alzheimer’s, researchers may be able to identify patterns associated with cognitive resilience. I think this opens up an important area of research because if we can better understand what makes some brains more resilient, we may eventually be able to develop strategies that help more people maintain their cognitive health as they age,” he explained.
Seán Kennelly, Consultant Geriatrician and Cognitive Specialist Clinical Director at Re:Cognition Health, Dublin, added:
“I find the study of SuperAgers particularly fascinating because they help us understand why some people maintain exceptional memory and cognitive function well into later life, while others experience significant decline,”
Kennelly, who was also not involved in the study, explained that, “(b)y looking at how different areas of the brain communicate, researchers can identify patterns associated with cognitive resilience. This gives us valuable insight into what a healthy aging brain looks like and, importantly, what might make some people more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease.”
He said, “Ultimately, understanding these differences could help us move towards earlier identification and better prevention strategies.”
Identifying cognitive differences in cases of no cognitive impairment
The researchers examined whether ARC could identify differences in cognitive health among older adults without cognitive impairment.
This could help predict future cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s disease before any symptoms or memory problems develop or appear on other cognitive tests.
Kennelly described this as “arguably the most significant finding from a clinical perspective.”
He explained that “
