115-Year-Old's Brain in Top Shape

(June 9) -- A Dutch woman who reached 115 years of age and remained mentally sharp throughout life also had a healthy brain when she died, a new study finds.

The woman's brain showed almost no evidence of Alzheimer's disease. The finding suggests Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia are not inevitable, as had been suspected.

Chuck Kennedy, MCT

Deterioration of the brain with age is not inevitable, according to research on a 115-year-old woman. Here, residents of a nursing home in Washington, D.C., talk politics.

"Our observations suggest that, in contrast to general belief, the limits of human cognitive function may extend far beyond the range that is currently enjoyed by most individuals," said lead researcher Gert Holstege, a neuroscientist at the University Medical Center Groningen, in The Netherlands.

The results are detailed in the August issue of the journal Neurobiology of Aging. More