INTRODUCTION: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness with limited treatment options. Dysfunction of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a unifying salient feature of the pathology and a primary end-point damage leading to complications such as geographic atrophy (GA), which represents the most common end-stage of AMD. METHODS: Human and murine ocular tissues were used for histological examinations. Furthermore, flow cytometry and gene expression analysis were used on ocular and splenic tissues of RESULTS: We show the presence of memory T cells such as CD45RO DISCUSSION: Our data support that activation and accumulation of memory T cells can be considered as a hallmark of early AMD, and that adaptive immunosenescence likely to contribute to the chronic inflammation associated with RPE damage and the progression to large lesions as seen in GA.