The reasons why some individuals age 80 and over have memory performance on par with people decades younger are not fully understood. To investigate this, researchers are collecting behavioral, biological, genetic, and psychosocial data from participants, including using wearable technology and protein profiling.

Maher, A. C., Bartha, R., Culum, I., Finger, E., Geula, C., Goldstein, F. C., Huentelman, M. J., Lim, A., Martersteck, A., Mesulam, M., Okonkwo, O. C., Paulson, H. L., Roberts, A. C., Rose, E., Timpo, P., Trammell, A. R., Swartz, R. H., Ooteghem, K. V., Rogalski, E. J., & (2025). Enrollment and Scientific Update for the Multisite SuperAging Research Initiative. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S3). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70857_104075   Angela Roberts

Accurately quantifying markers of brain health, known as white matter hyperintensities, is a challenge for research on aging and neurodegenerative disease. To address this, researchers used five different deep learning pipelines to process brain scans from 100 older adults and had a neuroradiologist rate the quality of each output.

Martersteck, A., McDermott, S., VanDyke, C., Sreenivasan, K., Kharitonova, M., Moore, S., Schafer, R., Maher, A. C., Finger, E., Goldstein, F. C., Okonkwo, O. C., Roberts, A. C., Rogalski, E. J., & (2025). Expert Evaluation of Deep Learning Approaches to White Matter Hyperintensity Segmentation in Older Adults. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S2). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70856_106019   Angela Roberts

The accurate quantification of brain markers known as white matter hyperintensities is necessary for studying aging and Alzheimer disease. Researchers compared five deep learning pipelines by using them to process brain scans from 100 older adults and having a neuroradiologist rate the quality of each pipeline's output.

Martersteck, A., McDermott, S., VanDyke, C., Sreenivasan, K., Kharitonova, M., Moore, S., Schafer, R., Maher, A. C., Finger, E., Goldstein, F. C., Okonkwo, O. C., Roberts, A. C., & Rogalski, E. J. (2025). Expert Evaluation of Deep Learning Approaches to White Matter Hyperintensity Segmentation in Older Adults. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S8). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70862_110016   Angela Roberts

This research examines whether emotional and social well-being contributes to the exceptional memory of "SuperAgers," adults aged 80 and over with memory comparable to people in their 50s and 60s. The study compared emotional well-being scores between SuperAgers and a group of their cognitively-average peers.

Alexander, C. M., Kadey, K. R., Schafer, R., Okonkwo, O. C., Goldstein, F. C., Roberts, A. C., Martersteck, A., Maher, A. C., Rogalski, E. J., & (2025). Exploring Emotional Well‐Being in Exceptional Aging: Data from the SuperAging Research Initiative. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S3). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70857_098016   Angela Roberts

This research evaluates whether ‘SuperAgers’, who are individuals aged 80 and over with memory comparable to people two to three decades younger, have different daily health-related activities than their peers. To answer this, researchers used wearable sensors on the wrist, ankle, and trunk to collect 24-hour data on physical activity, mobility, and sleep from participants over a 14-day period.

Ooteghem, K. V., Beyer, K. B., Culum, I., Cornish, B. F., Lim, A., Swartz, R. H., Oklikah, D. O., Narayan, E., Finger, E., Maher, A. C., Goldstein, F. C., Martersteck, A., Okonkwo, O. C., Schafer, R., Rogalski, E. J., McIlroy, W. E., Roberts, A. C., & Initiative, T. S. R. (2025). Exploring variability in daily health‐related behaviors as a feature of exceptional cognitive aging in people 80+ years of age: Early findings from the SuperAging Research Initiative. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S7). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70861_108450   Angela Roberts

Limited research exists on how health feedback from wearable devices affects behaviour change in older adults and individuals with neurodegenerative diseases. To investigate this, researchers had participants wear devices, generated personalized feedback reports for them, and then assessed changes using surveys and interviews.

Culum, I., Narayan, E., Godkin, E. F., Beyer, K. B., Swartz, R. H., Munoz, D. P., Black, S. E., Masellis, M., Lang, A. E., Thai, V., Oklikah, D. O., McIlroy, W. E., Ooteghem, K. V., Roberts, A. C., & (2025). Health Behaviour Changes driven by Personalized Feedback Reports from wearables data: A HANDDS‐ONT Study. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S6). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70860_105589   Angela Roberts

Long-term differences in health system use, nursing home transitions, and mortality across various neurodegenerative diseases are not well understood. Researchers linked clinical data for 478 persons with neurodegenerative pathologies to provincial health administrative databases to follow their outcomes over time.

Bronskill, S. E., Maclagan, L. C., Matai, L., Emdin, A. L., Roberts, A. C., Binns, M., McLaughlin, P. M., Black, S. E., & Swartz, R. H. (2025). Health service utilization and transition to nursing home among a cohort with mixed neurodegenerative pathologies: the linked Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) Cohort. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S6). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70860_101213   Angela Roberts

Researchers are working to understand the activity patterns and physiological responses that characterize "SuperAgers," who are people aged 80 and over with exceptionally strong memory. To answer this, participants wore sensors on their chest, wrist, and ankle for a 10-to-12-day period to continuously collect data while they performed their usual daily activities.

Roberts, A. C., Ooteghem, K. V., Culum, I., Beyer, K. B., McIlroy, B., Lim, A., Swartz, R. H., Oklikah, D. O., Narayan, E., Finger, E., Maher, A. C., Goldstein, F. C., Martersteck, A., Okonkwo, O. C., Schafer, R., Rogalski, E. J., & (2025). Health‐Related Behaviours in Octogenarians and Nonagenarians with Robust Cognitive Longevity: Progress from the SuperAging Research Initiative. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(S6). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70860_105769   Angela Roberts