Coordinator: Jaderson Costa da Costa, MD, PhD

Members: Mirna Wetters Portuguez, PhD ; Alexandre Rosa Franco, PhD ; Ana Maria Marques, PhD ; Cristina M. Moriguchi Jeckel, PhD ; Eduardo Zimmer, PhD ; Eliete Biasotto Hauser, PhD ; Graciane Radaelli, PhD ; Lucas Porcello Schilling, MD, PhD ; Ricardo Bernardi Soder, PhD ; Louise Mross Hartmann, MSc ; Marcos Vinícius Fortes Alba, MSc ; Michele Andrade, MSc; Wyllians Vendramini Borelli, MD ; Gabriel Bittencourt (graduating from the School of Medicine), Gabriela Etchepare (graduate student in Psychology) , Laura Marques ( graduate student at the School of Medicine), Leonardo Pisani (undergraduate at the School of Medicine) , Luciana Borges (graduate at the School of Medicine), Ricardo Trentin (graduating from the School of Medicine) and Vanessa Bortolotto (graduate student in Psychology) .

The number of elderly people over 80 years old grows exponentially in Brazil. According to a recent survey released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the country accounts for approximately 3.5 million in this age group. In 2060, that number is expected to jump to 19 million. Along with this data, there is an increase in the prevalence of degenerative diseases in the elderly - such as Alzheimer's - reaching 1/3 of the elderly over 85 years of age (WHO). However, there is a select group of people in this age group who maintain their cognitive functions resisting the passage of time: the Superidosos.

Given this perspective and with a special interest in comparing these elderly people with the population with cognitive decline, especially due to Alzheimer's disease, the Brain Institute brought together researchers from multiple fields such as medicine, psychology, physics, engineering, pharmacy, mathematics, among others, with the aim of researching healthy and super-healthy aging. The group wants to find out what are the neural mechanisms that allow these individuals to reach a certain stage of life with a much higher than average cognitive ability. The findings of this research will be applied to patients with neurodegeneration.

Understand the research

The overweight are evaluated with neuropsychological tests to assess mental functions, classifying this group into several functions: attention, memory, executive function, among others. When participating in the research, the elderly undergo psychological tests and, subsequently, undergo imaging tests: one with magnetic resonance and two with PET / CT (positron emission computed tomography).

The research exams are carried out at the Institute's Image Center, using PIB - Pittsburgh Coumpond B (substance marked with Carbon 11), a radiotracer that does not cause any side effects to the organism. This radiotracer is used to mark the pattern of deposition of beta-amyloid plaques, which at certain specific levels of deposition characterize Alzheimer's disease. The goal is to understand how this deposition behaves in the overweight.
The study carried out at InsCer is the first in Brazil and, with the findings, it is intended to work on strategies for early prevention of neurodegeneration and treatments aimed at patients who already have Alzheimer's disease.

Do you want to participate?

The Superidosos research is looking for volunteers for the next stages of the study. See how you can participate:

- To be 80 years old or more

- Do not have metals in the body, such as pacemakers, prostheses, pins, etc.

- Not having health problems like kidney failure, cancer, heart disease, etc.

To volunteer or enroll a volunteer, send an email to [email protected] .

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