The remarkable brains of ‘SuperAgers’ hold clues about how we age

New results add to the debate over whether humans make new nerve cells into adulthood

A human brain rests on a back, reflective surface.

A small study of cells deep inside donated brains like this one suggests that quick-witted older people might generate newborn nerve cells, though the results are far from conclusive.

Shane Collins/Northwestern University

A look inside the brains of extraordinarily sharp elderly people reveals clues about their unusual abilities.