Abstract
Five autopsied brains from centenarians (100-105 years of age) were examined pathologically. The results were as follows: 1) All cases consisted of females, who had been healthy through their entire lives and belonged to the families of long lifespan. 2) The psychiatric disorder appeared first in the late of life. 3) Causes of death were pneumonia, heart failure, lung cancer, etc. 4) Visceral organs were severely atrophic. The brains weighed 950-1170g, with diffuse cortical atrophy. 5) Macroscopical lesions were observed in 3 cases, which consisted of small bleeding and softening. 6) Histologically, the changes of physiological aging, i.e. nerve cell loss, atrophy, lipofuscin accumulation, axonal dystrophy, Marinesco body, torpedo, were markedly observed. On the other hand, the changes of pathological aging, i.e. senile plaques, Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid angiopathy, Lewy body, granulovacuolar degeneration, Hirano body, appeared inconsistently. Abundant senile plaques were observed in 2 cases and Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles in all cases. In conclusion, the centenarian brains are characterized in the changes of both physiological and pathological aging, and also in the presence of slight vascular changes.
