If Angela Roberts has learned one thing from her research into aging, it’s this: growing older can be a chance to thrive.  

She learned this lesson directly from a group of folks who are quite happy to be seniors.

They’re called SuperAgers, members of a study that looks at adults 80 and older who have high cognitive resilience – meaning their memory and communication abilities remain as strong as they were at 50.  

“The aim of the program is to understand the biology and the social lives of older adults and how we can create better outcomes, while also improving our understanding of conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's,” says Angela, a principal investigator on the study, Canada Research Chair in Data Analytics and Digital Health in Cognitive Aging and Dementia and a professor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the department of computer science.

Angela and her collaborators have found biology and DNA can play a part in healthy aging, but she says the SuperAgers have shown having a meaningful life after 80 is just as much about attitude.

“They are people who accept where they are in the aging process. They cherish the importance of every lesson they've learned, every creaky bone, every wrinkle, every experience they've had. And they have allowed those experiences to contribute to their resilience and strength.”

And she says these findings are shaking up traditional views on aging.

“The pattern that's been followed for many years in aging research has been that SuperAgers are largely a biological or genetic phenomenon. But we now know that's far from the truth. It's not only your biology, but your social behaviors and how you engage with society that drive a lot of our cognitive aging outcomes.”

Knowledge is power, as the old saying goes. Angela believes the impact of the SuperAgers project comes from the insights gained by studying healthy seniors. They serve as examples to others approaching older age and wondering what it may mean to their lifestyle.  

“The one thing that comes through in every aspect of their lives is they live with purpose. They're always going, doing, engaging in something. We have a retired machinist with no high school education who started a philosophy circle. We have schoolteachers who now lead women's health classes. We have people who are still working as computer science programmers. They find their purpose wherever they are.”

Angela says the insights from the SuperAgers study will play a crucial role in advancing inclusivity.  

“Creating an inclusive society means including people as they age, whether they’re aging well or managing a health condition. The more we do this, the more inclusive our society is, and the better it is for all of us, young and old alike.”

And a vital place to start, she adds, is in health care.  

“Our current health standards are built for people younger than 80. Drug trials and intervention trials often exclude people 80 and older. So it's not just that our health care system isn't set up for it. Our science doesn't actually understand how to prescribe medications and interventions and surgical approaches for people of that age. We've got a long way to go, and our hope is studies like the SuperAging Research Initiative start to change how society and health-care systems view older adults and create a more inclusive space.”

And she is proud to admit her contact with the SuperAgers she’s studying is having a personal impact.  

“These people have changed my life. There's never a day I don't challenge myself when I come into work to say, ‘what am I going to do today to change the world?’”