VENs: A Hidden Gem?

Thomas Edison. Benjamin Franklin. Albert Einstein. These individuals have been categorized as being geniuses. It makes one wonder if there are geniuses lurking among us today. According to some recent studies, a new category of geniuses have emerged: Super-agers. In her presentation, Tamar Gefen spoke at Loyola University Chicago about the research her fellow colleagues and her were conducting regarding Super-agers. Super-agers are individuals who are of at least 80 years of age but, seem to have the memory capacity of individuals between the ages of 50-65.  From an experimental study they conducted, Dr. Gefen mentioned that Super-agers performed substantially better in memory oriented tasks in comparison to individuals who were of the same age group. With the difference in memory performance despite the similar age between the groups, researchers performed MRI studies to determine if differences existed within the brain between the groups. 

Researchers found that in comparison, Super-agers had greater thickness in their anterior cingulate cortex as well displayed a thicker cingulate cortex overall. According to Dr. Gefen, the surprising discovery was that the researchers found that Super-agers had an enormous abundance of VENs, von Economo neurons, within their brains. It has been found that VENs enable the thickness of the cingulate cortex which may give rise to the intellectual superiority of Super-agers.

However, there has been limited research done in regards to the role of VENs within humans. There has been studies done to see if VENs are found in other species. In fact, along with humans, ape species, four cetacean species, African and Indian elephants seem to have VENs as well. When observing the brains of African elephants that were obtained from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, it was found that VENs were abundant in their frontoinsular cortex and anterior cingulate cortex.  Researchers found that species with large-brains often had a high concentration of VENs. One plausible explanation is that due to their large size, VENs allow for “rapid transmission of information over long distances”.

Not only are VENs found within species that have large brains but, these species tend to have a high level of intelligence. Thus, is it possible that VENs and intelligence are interlinked? Do Super-agers have exceptional memories due to a high concentration of VENs ? With further investigation on the role of VENs, it is hoped to be able to answer these questions one day.

Works Cited

Picture 1:

https://www.google.com/search?q=superagers&rlz=1C1TSNP_enUS497US497&espv=2&biw=1517&bih=714&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQtsKs_rTMAhXBUyYKHaPqDloQ_AUIDCgA&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch&q=smart+old+people&imgrc=M1u3u1aDyzAYUM%3A

Picture 2: 

https://www.google.com/search?q=superagers&rlz=1C1TSNP_enUS497US497&espv=2&biw=1517&bih=714&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQtsKs_rTMAhXBUyYKHaPqDloQ_AUIDCgA&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch&q=african+elephant&imgrc=EdFsv9LYLDmCjM%3A

Article:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.20829/pdf