What Super Agers Teach Us About Brain Health

Super agers teach us that the brain can stay adaptable well into our 80s, and that staying active while regularly challenging both body and brain matters. That's the heart of exercise for brain health.

If you're anything like me, you've probably met someone in their 70s or 80s who just seems sharp. They remember details, move with confidence, and stay engaged in conversations and activities.

Researchers actually have a name for this group — "super agers" — and they've been trying to understand what sets them apart.

What Did the Nature Study on Super Agers Find?

A 2026 peer-reviewed study published in Nature found that super agers — adults over 80 with exceptional memory — had significantly more new or immature brain cells than typical older adults in the part of the brain responsible for memory, called the hippocampus. What they found was compelling.

That doesn't mean we fully understand how or why this happens, and it's important not to overstate it. But it does suggest something meaningful: the brain may be more adaptable with age than we once thought.

What Do Super Agers Do Differently?

People who age well — both physically and mentally — tend to stay active, remain mentally engaged, and regularly challenge both their body and their brain. Those patterns show up consistently when researchers study them. Not in extreme ways, and not perfectly, but consistently over time. That's encouraging, because those are things that are within our control.

Why We Train Body and Brain Together

This is one of the main reasons we combine physical movement with simple brain-body exercises in our training sessions. When you do both at the same time, you're not just strengthening muscles — you're strengthening communication between the brain and the body. This process, often referred to as neuroplasticity, is one of the key ways we maintain function and independence as we age.

A Quick Example From a Training Session

I filmed a short video with one of my clients to show what this can look like in a real session. She's working on building leg strength with a simple movement, while at the same time responding to a small brain challenge layered into the exercise.

It's not complicated, but it is intentional — and it reflects how we actually move in everyday life, where we're rarely just going through the motions without thinking, reacting, and adjusting.

Watch the video: Stronger Body, Sharper Brain — At the Same Time

Does the Brain Have to Decline With Age?

No. It is encouraging to know that the brain doesn't simply decline with age. It responds to how we use it. When we consistently challenge both the body and the brain — even in small ways — we give ourselves a much better chance of staying strong, steady, and sharp over time.