Integrity of neuronal size in the entorhinal cortex is a biologic substrate of exceptional cognitive aging

What is your doctor doing to test this in you, AND WHAT PROTOCOLS ARE GIVEN to increase this integrity. No protocols, you don't have a functioning stroke doctor.

Integrity of neuronal size in the entorhinal cortex is a biologic substrate of exceptional cognitive aging

Caren Nassif, Allegra Kawles, Ivan Ayala, Grace Minogue, Nathan P. Gill, Robert A. Shepard, Antonia Zouridakis, Rachel Keszycki, Hui Zhang, Qinwen Mao [MD, PhD], Margaret E. Flanagan [MD], Eileen H. Bigio [MD], M.-Marsel Mesulam [MD], Emily Rogalski [PhD], Changiz Geula [PhD] and Tamar Gefen [PhD]

Journal of Neuroscience 30 September 2022, JN-RM-0679-22; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0679-22.2022

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Abstract

Average aging is associated with a gradual decline of memory capacity. SuperAgers are humans over age 80 who show exceptional episodic memory at least as good as individuals 20-30 years their junior. This study investigated whether neuronal integrity in entorhinal cortex (ERC), an area critical for memory and selectively vulnerable to neurofibrillary degeneration, differentiated SuperAgers from cognitively-healthy younger individuals, cognitively-average peers (“Normal Elderly”), and individuals with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI). Postmortem sections of the ERC were stained with cresyl violet to visualize neurons, and immunostained with PHF-1 to visualize neurofibrillary tangles. The cross-sectional area (i.e., size) of layer II and layer III/V ERC neurons were quantified. Two-thirds of total participants were female. Unbiased stereology was employed to quantitate tangles in a subgroup of SuperAgers and Normal Elderly. Linear mixed-effect models were used to determine differences across groups. Quantitative measurements found the soma size of layer II ERC neurons in post-mortem brain specimens were significantly larger in SuperAgers compared to all groups (p<0.05)—including younger individuals 20-30 their junior (p<0.005). SuperAgers had significantly fewer stereologically quantified AD-related neurofibrillary tangles in layer II ERC than Normal Elderly (p<0.05). This difference in tangle burden in layer II between SuperAgers and Normal Elderly suggest that tangle-bearing neurons may be prone to shrinkage during aging. The finding that SuperAgers show ERC layer II neurons that are substantially larger even compared to individuals 20-30 years younger is remarkable, suggesting that layer II ERC integrity is a biologic substrate of exceptional memory in old age.