New Scientist 37%
Secrets of the Superagers
7/7/2026, 1:02 AM - 395 words
Faulty reasoning signals
- Confirmation Bias - 4.3% (17 hits)
- Anchoring Bias - 0%
- Availability Heuristic - 6.8% (27 hits)
- Representativeness Heuristic - 6.6% (26 hits)
- Hindsight Bias - 0%
- Overconfidence Bias - 0%
- Framing Effect - 5.1% (20 hits)
- Loss Aversion - 0%
- Status Quo Bias - 0%
- Sunk Cost Effect - 0%
- Optimism Bias - 20.5% (81 hits)
- Pessimism Bias - 0%
Article text
Secrets of the Superagers
Why do some people retain sharp minds well into later life, while others don’t?
Explore the science of healthy ageing and discover how genetics, biology, and lifestyle combine to shape our long term health.
From simple shifts - like picking up your walking pace or nurturing social connections - to deeper insights from cutting edge research, what really makes a difference?
At the heart of this field is the study of so called “superagers”: individuals who remain cognitively resilient far beyond what is typical for their age.
By examining their lives, researchers are uncovering surprising clues about how we can all support better ageing.
Join your fellow subscribers to hear Emily Rogalski, head of the University of Chicago Healthy Aging & Alzheimer’s Research Care (HAARC) Centre and the internationally enrolling SuperAging Research Initiative, as she reveals the secrets of these superagers and explores what her research tells us about maintaining cognitive health well into old age.
The event will be hosted by New Scientist Assistant News Editor, Alexandra Thompson and will conclude with a short question-and-answer session.
About Emily Rogalski
Dr.
Emily Rogalski is the Rosalind Franklin Professor of Neurology at the University of Chicago, where she directs the Healthy Aging & Alzheimer’s Research Care (HAARC) Center, an ageing and dementia research hub dedicated to discovering factors that promote resilience, resistance, and increased health span.
She is a clinical and cognitive neuroscientist whose work spans exceptional aging through Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias.
Using a multimodal approach, she studies two complementary perspectives on ageing: primary progressive aphasia (PPA), in which neurodegenerative disease disrupts the language network, and SuperAging, in which some older adults appear resistant to the memory decline often associated with typical ageing.
Her PPA research has helped characterize the clinical and anatomical features of the syndrome, identify factors associated with disease progression, and refine understanding of language network organization.
She has also pioneered care-focused research to maximize communication and quality of life for people living with PPA and related dementias, including leading development of Communication Bridge, a telemedicine-based intervention for people with PPA and their communication partners.
Rogalski also operationalized the SuperAging phenotype and now leads the international, multisite SuperAging Research Initiative, which seeks to identify biological, molecular, genetic, and psychosocial factors that support exceptional memory, extended health span, and resistance to Alzheimer’s disease or its effects.
Find out more about the SuperAging Research Initiative