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They are people over 80 years old. With this so called super-aged something special is happening in a region of the brain called the entorhinal cortex. This area is important for our memory. It is also the first part to be affected if someone has Alzheimer’s disease.
The entorhinal cortex consists of six layers. The second layer collects information from other areas of memory. In some people over the age of eighty, this layer contains remarkably large and healthy neurons.
These neurons are nearly 25% larger than those in the brains of people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. They are also 15% larger than those of “regular” peers and 6% larger than those of much younger people. According to the researchers, this is still a very big difference.
The super-aged were probably born with bigger neurons, scientists think.
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Enlarged neurons are not prone to “Alzheimer’s nodes”
The largest neurons in the brains of quick-witted 80-plus-year-olds also don’t seem to have “Alzheimer’s nodes.” These knots are made up of tangled tau proteins – one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
Enlarged neurons can maintain their structure and stay healthy. They thus ensure that no knots form. As a result, the research team concluded that these entangled tau proteins cause neurons to shrink. In Alzheimer’s disease, there is therefore a case of shrinkage of neurons in the entorhinal cortex.
Future research should show why large neurons are not attacked by entangled tau proteins and therefore do not shrink.
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