# Biospecimen/Neuropathology Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $563,103

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY (Biospecimen / Neuropathology):
Cognitive SuperAgers are 80+ year-olds with episodic memory performance that is at least as good as what
would be considered normal for 50-60-year-olds. Given the normally occurring age-related loss of memory
capacity, SuperAgers provide a unique resource for investigating the biological factors that promote resistance
and resilience to the involutional effects of age on cognition. The Northwestern SuperAging Program has made
considerable progress in addressing this question. In the course of investigations, a number of biologic,
anatomic, pathologic, and molecular features have been identified in SuperAgers, which distinguish them from
their peers with average cognition (Controls), including greater volume of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), greater
density of Von Economo neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex, fewer cortical plaques and tangles that are
characteristic of age-related Alzheimer pathology, integrity of cortical cholinergic innervation and inheritance of
different polymorphisms of the MAP2K3 gene. The goal of the proposed Consortium is to increase the subject
pool of SuperAgers and Controls and to achieve a much higher representation of African American participants.
The Biospecimen / Neuropathology Core of the SuperAging Consortium will collect and bank brain tissue and
blood products from participants, render neuropathological diagnoses, quantitate key markers of
neurodegeneration, and generate genomic, transcriptomic and plasma biomarker data for collaborative
intramural and extramural studies. It will also provide brain tissue, plasma and DNA for studies proposed in
Project 2 of this Consortium. It will enable the confirmation of previous findings in a larger cohort, and will allow
exploration of new factors that distinguish SuperAgers from Controls. The Biospecimen / Neuropathology Core
will pursue three specific aims: Aim 1. Bank blood / blood products and DNA from all participants, and
postmortem brain tissue from participants that come to autopsy. Blood products, and fixed and frozen brain
tissue will be banked, neuropathological diagnoses will be rendered and data from exome-wide analysis of DNA,
transcriptome analysis of cortical tissue, and plasma biomarkers will be generated and archived. Aim 2. Confirm
previous biologic, anatomic, pathologic and genetic findings in a significantly larger cohort of SuperAgers and
Controls obtained through this Consortium. Existing observations on the SuperAging phenotype, which were
generated in small cohorts, will be confirmed in a larger pool of participants. Aim 3. Explore new factors that
may distinguish SuperAgers from Controls in a large cohort, including measures of neuronal and synaptic
integrity. The assembled team of investigators has extensive expertise and record of productivity relevant to
achieving the goals of this core. The activities of the Biospecimen / Neuropathology Core will facilitate
investigation of factors that m...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10276530
- **Project number:** 1U19AG073153-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** CHANGIZ GEULA
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $563,103
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10276530

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10276530, Biospecimen/Neuropathology Core (1U19AG073153-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10276530. Licensed CC0.

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