Lifebrain Monthly E-newsletter June 2020
 

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Mrs. A: A story of a successful ageing
 

People make immensely valuable contributions to research. Mrs. A., the last of the 516 BASE participants, was one of them. This article is a tribute to her in gratitude for the time and engagement she has given to supporting research and allowing insights into her life.
 
In December, Mrs. A., passed away at the age of 107. The Berlin Aging Study (BASE) is a multidisciplinary investigation of old people aged from 70 to over 100 years who lived in the former West-Berlin. The study covered their mental and physical health, psychological functioning and socio-economic status.

Engaged in research participation

Mrs. A. participated in the first BASE measurement occasion almost 30 years ago, and in all 7 timepoints since. She was always very motivated and loved being tested. She was especially motivated to achieve good scores in the cognitive tests. At some point, she confessed that she had been practicing in advance to prepare herself for the upcoming assessment - she remembered some of the tests from one measurement occasion to the next!

An explanation to longevity: positive attitude to life

As researchers we were amazed about her positive attitude to life and how well she dealt with her own age-related limitations. She proudly told us about her daily routines such as putting on her make-up, doing exercise, and trying out cooking recipes. Throughout her life, she had a younger network of close friends who could barely keep up with her. She was always interested in news and politics and loved traveling in Europe and going for a dance in the evenings even in her 70s. If she could not sleep, she did not worry about it, and just poured herself a glass of liqueur and watched the night traffic outside her window.

Successful ageing

Her level of performance at age 105 corresponded to that of a typical 90-year old. Thus, her cognitive age was more than 15 years younger than her chronological age. This nicely illustrates the large variability and individual specifics of aging, also on variables that are known to be highly age-sensitive. Even at the age of 105 Mrs. A. was able to remember events that lay about 10 years in the past, so her episodic memory was functioning well. She was motivated to sit down several hours each and every evening (as she told us) in the week before our visit to take a dictionary and try to learn by heart such “useless” things as words that begin with the letter S. This refers to a well-functioning non-cognitive, motivational system. Even at the age of 105, she was obviously in a position to memorize new learning material in a highly efficient manner.

Independence and adaptation at older age

Mrs. A. would never thought she would reach such a high age, otherwise, she would have started far more new projects in her 80s, such as learning computer skills, she claimed. It was always important for her to remain independent, but at the same time to be able to adjust her independence in response to age-related limitations over the course of her life. She always focused on those things she could still do. This adaptational capacity made it possible for her to remain happy about small things even at an older age.

An adventurous life in historical times

Mrs. A. was born in a small village in Eastern Pomerania (now Poland) in 1912. She worked as a household assistant, then in a butcher´s shop. Mrs. A. was living in an Eastern part of Berlin and experienced the arrival of the Soviet troops in May 1945: she worked as a tailor for the Soviet officers and their wives. This period was followed by a job as a shop assistant at a renowned butcher’s in Berlin Westend from 1947 to 1961. Every day she travelled across Berlin’s sectors from home to work and back. On August 12, 1961 (the eve of the building of the Berlin Wall), she was arrested with a box of silverware in her possession. She was convicted of offence against monetary transaction regulations and had to spend 9 weeks in prison. Mrs. A. stayed in East-Berlin after that, working in the textile industry. Her partner, who lived in West-Berlin, stayed in touch with her and often visited her as he was free to travel. Part of her family was also on the other side of the Iron Curtain in West Germany, and they remained in close contact. Like many of her peers, she finally took the opportunity to leave the GDR upon her retirement in 1972 and resettled in West-Berlin, moving into the flat that became her home for the rest of her life. Mrs. A. especially enjoyed travelling in her later years. Her last longer trip at the age of just over 90 took her to Andalusia for 6 weeks - just after paying for her funeral insurance! On her 100th birthday, her family took her to the major sites of her life spread across Berlin. She regularly celebrated her birthday in grand style in a Croatian restaurant near her home, often ending with her favorite drink of Spanish Osborne 103 brandy, toasted by her friends and family.

Source of newsletter

This newsletter was edited by Kirsten Becker, Julia Delius, Sandra Düzel and Denis Gerstorf, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Centre for Lifespan Psychology.

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