The 100-plus study included its 500th centenarian last week. With this study, researchers want to unravel why some individuals suffer from symptoms of dementia at the age of 70, while others reach ages over 100 years without any signs of cognitive decline. With this milestone, Henne Holstege and her team at the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam have collected 50,000 years’ worth of knowledge.

Principal Investigator Henne Holstege started the study in 2013. Holstege initiated the research inspired by Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, who passed away at the age of 115 without ever showing signs of dementia. Holstege wondered how that was possible. Was Hendrikje somehow protected from dementia? And can we learn from her - and other centenarians - how to protect others from developing dementia as well?

Vidi 2021 foto Henne Holstege

At the time, when I approached the first centenarian, I couldn't have imagined that the 100-plus study would become a well-known concept in international Alzheimer’s research.
Henne Holstege
Associate Professor Amsterdam UMC

Now, years later, 500 centenarians and their family members are participating in the study. “I am now looking at a full-fledged research group, with even expansion to the VIB/KU Leuven,” said Holstege, who was appointed professor at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research last year, in addition to her work at Amsterdam UMC. “We have collected data and biomaterials from which we have learned a great deal—and will continue to learn. I am incredibly grateful to all the centenarians and their families. On to the next 500!”