Latest news with #RalphRehbock

New York Times

The One Quality Most ‘Super-Agers' Share

Ralph Rehbock, age 91 and a Holocaust survivor, has a lot on his calendar. On the first Friday of every month, he joins a group of older men at a synagogue outside of Chicago for a meeting of MEL: Men Enjoying Leisure. Every Friday afternoon, he performs classics from the 1930s and 40s with the Meltones, the club's singing group. And he's shared his story of escape from Nazi Germany with thousands of school children over the years, through his work with the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. Leigh Steinman, 82, spends much of his time working on art projects with the children who live in his Chicago neighborhood and watching the Cubs play at Wrigley Field, which is just a block away. Mr. Steinman worked at the stadium as a security guard for 17 years before retiring at the beginning of the pandemic (his prior career was as an advertising copywriter). But he still walks over three or four times a week during the summer to see former co-workers and fellow fans. Mr. Rehbock and Mr. Steinman are both considered 'super-agers,' people 80 and up who have the same memory ability as someone 20 to 30 years younger. Scientists at Northwestern University have been studying this remarkable group since 2000, in the hopes of discovering how they've avoided typical age-related cognitive decline, as well as more serious memory disorders like Alzheimer's disease. A new review paper published Thursday summarizes a quarter century of their findings. Super-agers are a diverse bunch; they don't share a magic diet, exercise regimen or medication. But the one thing that does unite them is 'how they view the importance of social relationships,' said Sandra Weintraub, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, who has been involved in the research since the start. 'And personality wise, they tend to be on the extroverted side.' This doesn't surprise Ben Rein, a neuroscientist and the author of the forthcoming book, 'Why Brains Need Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection.' 'People who socialize more are more resistant to cognitive decline as they get older,' Dr. Rein said. And, he added, they 'have generally larger brains.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.