"The term 'super-ager' was first coined by neurologist Dr. M. Marsel Mesulam in the late 1990s. Mesulam defined super-agers as 'individuals over age 80 with episodic memory performance at least as good as normative values for 50- to 65-year-olds.'"
"Episodic memory is memory for our own personal history, as well as the context, the who, what, where, when, and why, associated with that particular event. We use episodic memory not just to recall the past, but also to support our daily lives."
"By definition, super-agers have extraordinarily good episodic memory. The question is why they seem to avoid the decline seen in others. How are the brains of super-agers different from those of non-super-agers?"
Cognitive decline is not an inevitable part of aging, as only about 11% of individuals over 65 are diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Some elderly individuals, termed 'super-agers,' perform as well on memory tests as those 30 years younger. Super-agers, defined as individuals over 80 with exceptional episodic memory, have been studied to understand their resilience against age-related cognitive decline. Episodic memory, crucial for recalling personal history, is the first to decline in Alzheimer's, making super-agers' abilities noteworthy.
Read at Psychology Today
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