A new study of 340 healthy Dutch centenarians1 living independently finds they “experienced no decline in major cognitive measures, except for a slight loss in memory function” akin to what one might expect if they were in their seventies. Some of the studied centenarians, in fact, had brains that appeared very healthy, and they performed at a high level on cognitive tests. Others who died with no discernible degradation of their memories or their abilities to relate to others and solve problems had their brains examined, and here’s where it gets wild: Their gray matter was as marred and scarred as that seen in people who die with advanced Alzheimer’s, yet their brain function was never compromised. And the oldest of these folks was 108.
