Alzheimer’s disease: 100-year-olds with amyloid plaques and tau tangles are still mentally sharp

Amyloid plaques and tau tangles tend to accumulate in the brain as we get older, but at the most advanced ages they don’t correlate with cognitive symptoms

By Grace Wade

For people who live to 100 or beyond, changes in the brain usually associated with Alzheimer’s disease don’t seem to correlate with cognitive impairment.

For decades, researchers have suspected that clumps of proteins known as amyloid plaques and tau tangles were the main drivers of Alzheimer’s disease because they are found in the brains of people who die from the condition.

Yet a growing pile of evidence has also shown that many people who live into their …