Discover what protected this woman from experiencing Alzheimer’s when she reached 101 years old in The Nun Study, and what allowed her to have a brain as sharp as those half her age.
A curious mystery — how did Sister Mary have full brain function despite her brain seeming to have physically deteriorated? The answer follows. First, some context.
This article is not about religion; instead, it’s about keeping your brain healthy so you can live the life you want.
Why does ‘brain health’ matter and what is meant by it?
Increased brain health can make you smarter, and happier — another reason I’m passionate about making it accessible for all. The health of your brain allows you to learn, problem-solve, and regulate emotions.
What is Alzheimer’s vs. dementia? (a common cause for confusion)
Some assume that dementia and Alzheimer’s are the same, but that’s actually not the case. Alzheimer’s is a subset of dementia and its most common cause.
Although the study described here was focused on Alzheimer’s, its results are relevant to some other types of dementia. Additional types of dementia include Vascular Dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia a.k.a. ‘FTD’ (a brilliant Silicon Valley coder and a famous musician have had it), Lewy Bodies a.k.a DLB (Robin Williams had it), Parkinson’s Disease (Michael J. Fox), and Huntington’s Disease.²
The Nun Study and how it was Set Up
In 1986, scientists began tracking nuns’ cognitive function; following its initial success, the study is still ongoing today. Nuns were chosen as subjects because of their similar lifestyles, making it easier for researchers to isolate the factors that influence their outcomes.
The Nun Study seeks to determine whether lifestyle could play a role in mitigating Alzheimer’s. The answer to this question is yes.
How do we know? Some participants in the study showed signs of Alzheimer’s in brain scans after passing away — but little to no cognitive decline while they were alive. In other words: It’s possible to show the signs of dementia without experiencing it.
If this sounds more like science fiction than fact, allow me to introduce Sister Mary.
Meet Sister Mary, the Nun Who Beat Alzheimer’s
Sister Mary had a small build and was renowned for her outsized, booming laugh. Passionate about education, she continued teaching well after her official retirement at the age of 84, remarking, “I only retire at night.”³ Sister Mary was an avid reader of the news, which helped direct her prayers for the needy around the world. She was a beloved and integral part of her community.
When Sister Mary passed at the age of 101, her brain autopsy showed advanced Alzheimer’s. Yet until the very end of her life, her scores on cognitive tests were better than those of adults 30 years younger — and barely declined from her own scores in previous years.
The study’s scientists showed that some of the daily practices over the course of her life, which in turn built up her cognitive reserve, helped protect her.
What Is Cognitive Reserve?
Cognitive reserve is the mind’s resistance to brain decline. Scientifically, it occurs when a brain has more functional synapses. So even if there are some synapses that fade away, the loss does not affect overall brain health as severely. Imagine a runner with a large store of energy to draw upon as they near the end of a race. Cognitive reserve is that same “endurance” for your brain, allowing you to continue learning, expressing yourself, and problem-solving even if your brain isn’t operating at peak capability.
What are Some Ways I Can Build Cognitive Reserve and Improve my Brain’s Health?
Sister Mary and others in the study maintained cognitive reserve throughout her life with simple practices included below, as well as habits that improved their overall health.
1. Lifelong learning & contribution. Despite having less formal education than many of her fellow nuns, Sister Mary was constantly immersing herself in new ideas and information. This mental stimulation builds cognitive reserve. Furthermore, the fact that Sister Mary taught for decades allowed her to express her own thoughts and ideas to others. More broadly, the Nun Study has revealed that nuns with more advanced vocabularies and the ability to express a higher density of ideas in their writing was correlated with a lower incidence of dementia.
2. Pay attention to the significance of good blood flow to your brain.
For some of the nuns that unfortunately did get Alzheimer’s, researchers discovered a key insight. Small, barely perceptible strokes — sometimes called “silent strokes”⁴ — started in some of the nuns’ brains before they were even aware of them. These silent brain strokes are often linked to high blood pressure, lack of exercise, excess alcohol, diabetes, an unhealthy diet, and sleep apnea. And in a separate study of over 1,000 participants decades later, scientists found vascular problems (i.e. problems affecting blood vessels & blood flow) were the earliest and strongest predictors of late-onset Alzheimer’s. Here is an article I wrote on this subject — Three Essentials to Keep Blood Flowing to your Brain and Why Your Life Depends on It.
3. For habits that affect your health like sleep & exercise, the cliche “better late than never” holds true. For example, researchers in the study were surprised that even nuns who started exercising later in life were still more resilient to cognitive decline. It’s never too late to build your physical health or cognitive reserve, but start right away.
What are other Key Takeaways from the Nun Study?
Sister Mary is one of the highlights of the Nun Study, but she’s far from the whole story. Others in the study experienced similar positive outcomes. Here are more key discoveries:
4. Genetic predisposition does not always determine your fate. Each participant in the study was tested for genes that are known to cause Alzheimer’s. The surprise? Even the nuns who had a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s still had excellent cognitive function. Critics may point to the possibility of protective genes that neutralized the genes that were tested. However, it would be missing the point to ignore the influence that lifestyle and environment has on your genes. Your cognitive reserve is in your control. It can be developed and maintained at any point in your life.
5. Your longevity is impacted by your emotions and worldview.
Known for her warmth, Sister Mary lived a long and healthy life. Participants in the Nun Study who expressed more positive emotions in written in early-life autobiographies lived up to 10 years longer than those with a less cheerful outlook and experienced less cognitive decline.
For additional insights on brain health, just message me or comment below. I’d love to be in touch. There are certain factors affecting brain health that may catch you by surprise, like environmental toxins. So not every single thing about brain health is always under your control — but there’s still so much you can do. For example, did you know that there is a relationship between the number of teeth an individual has at death with how likely they were to have had dementia?
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