Cognitive resilience seen in five long-lived Colombian siblings
Five Colombian siblings aged 94–105 carrying a gene variant linked to Alzheimer’s resilience showed cognition ranging from normal to mild dementia in an observational study.
Our read
Populations- Studied:
- Case series of 5 people
- What changed:
- Cognition in the siblings ranged from normal to mild dementia
- The catch:
- Shared genes or upbringing could explain resilience attributed to the ε2 variant
- Stake:
- An author founded Epoch Biotech.
- In the record:
- The 926th paper on APOE with results in people; 3,834 on record in all. Its result on cognitive resilience agrees with 2 of 4 other findings on record; 2 found no change.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Five Colombian siblings aged 94–105 who carried both the ε2 and ε3 versions of APOE, a gene linked to Alzheimer’s risk, underwent cognitive assessments in an observational family study. Four had assessments at the start and one year later; the fifth completed cognitive testing only at follow-up. Four also had brain scans.
Cognition ranged from normal to mild dementia. Brain scans showed less shrinkage than expected for advanced age, except in the oldest sibling. Other scans showed that the brain’s use of glucose—a sugar used for energy—was preserved for age. The authors interpreted the findings as signs of cognitive resilience associated with the ε2 variant.
Why it matters
Understanding how cognition holds up at very advanced ages may offer clues for efforts to delay cognitive decline.
Caveats
Without a comparison group, the study could not separate the ε2 variant’s contribution from other shared genes or upbringing. The findings came from five related people, with one year of cognitive follow-up.
The paper
Longevity and cognitive resilience in a Colombian family carrying the APOE ε2 variant
Universidad de Antioquia
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Jun 4, 2026, Open access
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