Key points from article :
People who reach the ripe old age of 100 with their cognition intact tend to maintain their faculties over the next several years.
Only measurable change in was a slight slide in memory.
“Dementia is not inevitable, explained by resilience against AD hallmarks and risk factors,” - Henne Holstege, co-author.
Enrolls cognitively healthy centenarians living in the community.
Researchers add more longitudinal data as well as postmortem findings.
No change in executive function, verbal fluency, processing speed or visuospatial abilities.
Memory nudged downward by an average of 0.1 standard deviations.
Physical health and independent living associated with higher cognitive scores, but not with the rate of decline.
High level of education and cognitive activity correlated with high baseline scores but not decline.
Of the 44 participants who came to autopsy, most had plaques and tangles.
Cognition also seemed unaffected by genetic risk factors.
Research by Amsterdam UMC published in JAMA Network Open.
