"Morry Kernerman, an accomplished violin prodigy, commits YouTube recordings of classical music to memory, hikes in a hilly ravine with his son and volunteers to teach music in South America. As he prepares to celebrate his 101st birthday next week, Kernerman is convinced that music has played an outsized role in contributing to his long and active life. The Toronto resident is what's known as a super-ager, someone 80 or up who retains the memory abilities of those in their 40s or 50s."
"In Canada, Angela Roberts of Western University in London, Ont., is leading the national initiative. Their goal is to enrol 500 super-agers into the project across the U.S. and Canada, which Roberts says they're close to doing. Though the results are observational, Roberts and the international team have so far found three key factors that help people live independently and for longer: pursue meaningful hobbies, stay physically active and maintain social connections."
"The SuperAging Research Initiative that Roberts' research is part of is led by a team from Northwestern University in Chicago. They've published a study suggesting the brains of 24 super-agers diminish at a slower rate than the brains of 12 similarly aged people, based on MRI scans of brain areas associated with memory and focus, as well as post-mortem measures."
Morry Kernerman exemplifies a super-ager who retains strong memory and activity levels into his 100s while engaging in music, hiking and volunteering. Super-agers are defined as people aged 80 and older who maintain memory abilities comparable to those in their 40s or 50s. The SuperAging Research Initiative enrolls participants across North America and aims for 500 enrollees in the U.S. and Canada. Observational findings link meaningful hobbies, regular physical activity, and sustained social connections with longer independent living and preserved cognition. MRI and post-mortem measures indicate slower brain shrinkage in super-agers, especially in memory- and attention-related regions.
Read at www.cbc.ca
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]