Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

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SuperAgers are defined by chronologic age and neuropsychologic performance: they are individuals who are at least 80-years-old who have episodic memory performance that is at least as good as average normative scores for 50–60-year-old adults.

Inclusion Criteria

You are eligible to join our study if you meet the following criteria:

  1. Age 80 or older
  2. Community-dwelling
  3. Speak fluent English
  4. Hearing is adequate for conversational speech (hearing aids permitted)
  5. Visual acuity adequate for neuropsychological testing
  6. Absence of significant impairment in cognitive functions or activities of daily living
  7. Able to identify a study partner (typically a family member, friend, or care provider) who has frequent contact (e.g., 3 hours/week) with the participant and is willing to enrol as a study partner for this project
  8. Agree to collection and sharing of blood for biomarker testing, genetic analysis, and banking for related research use
  9. Willing to participate in the longitudinal study
  10. Meet safety requirements to participate in the MRI portion of the study

Changes in cognition

This is a longitudinal study and due to the age of the population involved, some participants may develop mild cognitive impairment or clinical dementia in time. If this happens during the course of the study, you will be informed about your change in cognition and recommendations will be made for further clinical work up and/or consultation with your primary care physician. Such instances provide an invaluable opportunity to investigate the transition from normal cognitive aging to dementia.

Exclusion Criteria

Underlying conditions which may interfere with the participant’s ability to participate in the study or may compromise study results, include but are not limited to:

  1. Significant neurologic or psychiatric illness
  2. Substance abuse within the past year or history of alcohol or drug abuse which the study team feels may interfere with your ability to comply with the study procedures
  3. Serious medical illness that is unstable at the time of screening (e.g., thyroid disorder, renal, hepatic, cardiac or pulmonary insufficiency, cancer)
  4. You will not be excluded if you have chronic conditions, such as hypertension or hypercholesterolemia that are well controlled with medications. Similarly, if you are taking antidepressants or anxiolytics for situational reactions, you will not be excluded