ON THE HUNT FOR THE “SUPERAGER” GENE

Everyone experiences some cognitive decline as they get older, but how is it that some people seem to suffer little memory loss even decades after middle age?

Dubbed “superagers” by scientists, they are the 80-somethings who scored as well as the average 50- to 65-year-old on certain memory tests and at least average for their age in other assessments of brainpower. Research has found that superagers have fewer beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, both of which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Now a new study indicates that one reason why is genetic.

When scientists sequenced the genomes of 56 superagers, they found one gene, called MAP2K3, had changed more in their brains than is typical. The findings suggest that “superagers may have higher resistance to agerelated cognitive changes” than the normal aging population, said the study’s lead author.

Does that mean you might as well abandon the healthy lifestyle choices—eating well, exercising regularly, avoiding stress and cigarettes—that have long been associated with stronger aging brains? Certainly not. What this new research indicates is that therapies targeting the MAP2K3 gene could reduce age-related memory decline for everyone one day—including people with Alzheimer’s.