{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='\u0026quot;Super agers\u0026quot; with the brains of 50 year olds might hold key to dementia' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bc41d8eafeecae12b42a' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bc41d8eafeecae12b42a' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\n\u0026quot;Super agers\u0026quot; with the brains of 50 year olds might hold key to dementia\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eEdith Stern is a 92-year-old retiree who may hold the key to aging well.  She's a sprightly leader in her Chicago retirement home, playing mother hen to many of the residents and keeping an eye on the communal snack drawer.Her liveliness...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eEdith Stern is a 92-year-old retiree who may hold the key to aging well.  \u003cbr/\u003eShe's a sprightly leader in her Chicago retirement home, playing mother hen to many of the residents and keeping an eye on the communal snack drawer.\u003cbr/\u003eHer liveliness doesn't necessarily come from strength of body - but strength of mind. \u003cbr/\u003e\"I might look old, but inside I am not old,\" says Stern with a twinkle in her eye. \u003cbr/\u003eShe knows she's a little different from the others in her home. Now, some neuroscientists at Northwestern University agree with her.  \u003cbr/\u003eThey say she has the brain of a 50 or 60-year-old person, putting Stern in an elite group of seniors researchers call super agers. \u003cbr/\u003e\"What allows them to maintain optimal memory performance in older age?\" asks Emily Rogalski, a neuroscientist at Northwestern and leader of a study examining the super agers. \u003cbr/\u003eRogalski and her team are looking for ways to prevent dementia, even Alzheimer's, and believe super agers in their 80s and 90s can help. \u003cbr/\u003eImaging tests show they have less age-related plaque on their brains than their peers.  \u003cbr/\u003eSuper agers also have more brain mass in areas used for memory and attention. \u003cbr/\u003eBut it's a very select group. Not everyone can be a super ager, although Rogalski is still looking for study participants. To qualify you must pass a battery of mental tests.\u003cbr/\u003e\"We've screened over 400 people at this point, and only about 35 of them have been eligible for this study, so it really represents a rare portion of the population,\" says Rogalski.\u003cbr/\u003eBeyond possessing a sharp memory, researchers say super agers seem to have more energy than their peers, and share a positive outlook on life. \u003cbr/\u003eIt's unclear yet if those factors help with memory.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I do know that my memory is better than most people my age. I'm not sure why that is. I'm very grateful for it. Some of it I'm sure is due to genetics. Some of it may be for some other causes, and I don't think the researchers know any more than I do about why I have a good memory, and others like me.\" says Don Tenbrunsel, an 85-year-old retired businessman and super ager study volunteer.\u003cbr/\u003eTenbrunsel is cheerful, active and spends time working at his Chicago church food pantry.  \u003cbr/\u003e\"I think I'm just lucky, not only with respect to my memory, but I'm able to get around very well. I walk a lot, so, and I have a pretty good attitude toward life itself,\" he says.\u003cbr/\u003eHe and the other study volunteers will give blood, undergo more scans and medical tests and eventually donate their brains after they die.  \u003cbr/\u003eOther non-super agers have already donated their brains to Rogalski's team. Some had problems with dementia or Alzheimer's before they died, and others didn't.\u003cbr/\u003eThe specimens will give Rogalski a good base of comparison for studying autopsied super-ager brains.  \u003cbr/\u003eShe says brain cells actually live on the outer perimeter of the brain, but with autopsied brains, she's able to look much further down into the organ.  \u003cbr/\u003eUltimately, she wants to help people live longer, better lives.  \u003cbr/\u003e\"We're living long, but we're not necessarily living well in our older years, and so we hope that the super aging study can find factors that are modifiable and that we'll be able to use those to help people live long and live well,\" says Rogalski.  \u003cbr/\u003eWhat she finds just might one day unlock the mystery behind aging.  \u003cbr/\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eChicago, Illinois - July 30, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e1. Wide of Edith Stern, 92, walking in her retirement home, holding a key\u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide of Stern unlocking and opening a cabinet that holds snacks and treats for residents of the retirement home\u003cbr/\u003e3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Edith Stern, Retiree, super ager study participant: \u003cbr/\u003e\"I might look old, but inside I am not old. You know, I know that. I am young. Inside. And that's the difference.\"\u003cbr/\u003e4. Wide of Stern eating with other residents in dining room\u003cbr/\u003e5. Mid of Stern listening to others speak at the dining room table\u003cbr/\u003e6. Mid of Stern shaking her head\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eChicago, Illinois - August 7, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e7. Wide of entrance to Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University\u003cbr/\u003e8. Mid of Rogalski walking into refrigerated room holding donated brains and other study materials\u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Emily Rogalski, Neuroscientist, Northwestern University: \u003cbr/\u003e\"Can we find people who have memory performance over age 80 at least as good as individuals who are in their 50s and 60s? And then, once we find them, what allows them to maintain optimal memory performance in older age?\"\u003cbr/\u003e10. Mid of Rogalski holding a donated brain used for study\u003cbr/\u003e11. Brain image on computer screen shows lots of red and yellow on a brain\u003cbr/\u003eUPSOUND: (English) Voice of: Emily Rogalski, Neuroscientist, Northwestern University:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Everywhere you see red and yellow here on the brain is where average 80-year-olds have lost brain matter compared to average 50-year-olds.\"\u003cbr/\u003e12. Tight of computer screen showing image of a super ager brain with no red or yellow present\u003cbr/\u003e13. Brain image on computer screen shows no red and yellow on a super ager brain\u003cbr/\u003eUPSOUND: (English) Voice of: Emily Rogalski, Neuroscientist, Northwestern University:\u003cbr/\u003e\"What you'll notice is that there is no red and yellow, and so this was quite surprising to us that super agers looked virtually identical to the brains of the 50 and 60-year-olds.\"\u003cbr/\u003e14.  SOUNDBITE: (English) Emily Rogalski, Neuroscientist, Northwestern University:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We've screened over 400 people at this point, and only about 35 of them have been eligible for this study, so it really represents a rare portion of the population.\"\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eChicago, Illinois - August 1, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e15. Mid of Don Tenbrunsel, 85, walking across church food pantry kitchen\u003cbr/\u003e16. Mid of Tenbrunsel making bagged lunches for homeless and poor\u003cbr/\u003e17. Close of Tenbrunsel's hands has he works\u003cbr/\u003e18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Don Tenbrunsel, Retiree, Super ager study participant:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I do know that my memory is better than most people my age. I'm not sure why that is. I'm very grateful for it. Some of it I'm sure is due to genetics. Some of it may be for some other causes, and I don't think the researchers know any more than I do about why I have a good memory, and others like me.\"\u003cbr/\u003e19. Various of Tenbrunsel handing out food to those in line outside food pantry\u003cbr/\u003e20. SOUNDBITE: (English) Don Tenbrunsel, Retiree, Super ager study participant:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I think I'm just lucky, not only with respect to my memory, but I'm able to get around very well. I walk a lot, so, and I have a pretty good attitude toward life itself.\"\u003cbr/\u003e21. Mid of Tenbrunsel handing out food\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eChicago, Illinois - August 7, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e22. Wide of door to refrigerated room\u003cbr/\u003e23. Mid Rogalski standing in refrigerated room showing where the donated brains are stored\u003cbr/\u003e24. Mid of boxes holding donated brains\u003cbr/\u003e25. Close of donated brain in container\u003cbr/\u003eUPSOUND: (English) Voice of: Emily Rogalski, Neuroscientist, Northwestern University::\u003cbr/\u003e\"This darker part is called the brain cortex. And that's where the brain cells live.\"\u003cbr/\u003e26. Wide of donated brains stacked in boxes\u003cbr/\u003e27. SOUNDBITE: (English) Emily Rogalski, Neuroscientist, Northwestern University:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We're living long, but we're not necessarily living well in our older years, and so we hope that the super aging study can find factors that are modifiable and that we'll be able to use those to help people live long and live well.\"\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eChicago, Illinois - August 1, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e28. Mid of Tenbrunsel smiling, standing at food pantry door\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eChicago, Illinois - July 30, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e29. Close of Stern's hands in snack cabinet\u003cbr/\u003e30. Mid of Stern laying out snacks for other residents\u003cbr/\u003eA rare group of \"super-agers\" , men and women in their 80s and 90s with brains and memories that seem far younger, is helping researchers in the US in the fight against dementia and Alzheimer's.\u003cbr/\u003eThe scientists are looking at this rare group in the hope that they might find ways to help protect others from memory loss.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource 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