Whitehall II participants aged 65 or older were classed as SuperAgers if their verbal memory exceeded the sex-specific mid-life mean and their verbal fluency was within one standard deviation above the older-age mean. Higher education (OR 1.23), female sex (OR 1.30), absence of hypertension (OR 0.76 for hypertension), fewer depressive symptoms, higher fruit and vegetable intake (OR 1.08) and greater social engagement (OR 1.03) were associated with SuperAger status. The authors conclude these modifiable factors do not account for exceptional cognitive ageing.
Why it is interesting: Tests whether the standard modifiable dementia risk factors explain the upper tail of cognitive ageing, and finds the associations small.