Specifically, investigators from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD autopsied the brains of 38 nuns, including 10 with Alzheimer's, 5 with mild dementia, 13 with no brain abnormalities and 10 with "asymptomatic" Alzheimer's. In this last group, the nuns had developed plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that usually lead to dementia, but did not have any behavioral symptoms of the disease. The researchers reviewed essays that the asymptomatic nuns had written, finding that those essays contained more developed ideas than writings produced by the 10 nuns with Alzheimer's. They also found that the cells and neurons in the brains of the asymptomatic group were larger, which they believe may potentially compensate for the damaged Alzheimer's afflicted cells.