Superagers resist typical age-related white matter structural changes

Abstract

Superagers are elderly individuals with the memory ability of people 30 years younger and provide evidence that age-related cognitive decline is not inevitable. In a sample of 64 superagers (mean age 81.9; 59% women) and 55 typical older adults (mean age 82.4; 64% women) from the Vallecas Project, we studied, cross-sectionally and longitudinally over 5 years with yearly follow-ups, the global cerebral white matter status as well as region-specific white matter microstructure assessment derived from diffusivity measures. Superagers and typical older adults showed no difference in global white matter health (total white matter volume, Fazekas score, and lesions volume) cross-sectionally or longitudinally. However, analyses of diffusion parameters revealed better white matter microstructure in superagers than in typical older adults. Cross-sectional differences showed higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in superagers mostly in frontal fibres and lower mean diffusivity (MD) in most white matter tracts, expressed as an anteroposterior gradient with greater group differences in anterior tracts. FA decrease over time is slower in superagers than in typical older adults in all white matter tracts assessed, which is mirrored by MD increases over time being slower in superagers than in typical older adults in all white matter tracts except for the corticospinal tract, the uncinate fasciculus and the forceps minor. The better preservation of white matter microstructure in superagers relative to typical older adults supports resistance to age-related brain structural changes as a mechanism underpinning the remarkable memory capacity of superagers, while their regional ageing pattern is in line with the last-in-first-out hypothesis. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTEpisodic memory is one of the cognitive abilities most vulnerable to ageing. Although memory normally declines with age, some older people may have memory performance similar to that of people 30 years younger, and this phenomenon is often conceptualised as superageing. Understanding the superager phenotype can provide insights into mechanisms of protection against age-related memory loss and dementia. We studied the white matter structure of a large sample of 64 superagers over the age of 80 and 55 age-matched typical older adults during 5 years with yearly follow-ups showing evidence of slower age-related changes in the brains of superagers especially in protracted maturation tracts, indicating resistance to age-related changes and a regional ageing pattern in line with the last-in-first-out hypothesis.