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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
11:57
Methods to Study Changes in Inherent Protein Aggregation with Age in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: November 26, 2017
The regulation of physiological changes during mammalian aging
The Quarterly Review of Biology
|March 1, 1976
Summary
Most age-related cellular changes are not due to intrinsic aging but are regulated by neural and endocrine mechanisms. These hormonal and neural factors extend developmental processes, influencing cellular aging in mammals.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Endocrinology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Intrinsic molecular or cellular aging mechanisms may not fully explain age-related cellular changes and pathologies.
- Existing evidence points to hormonal and neural factors regulating numerous cellular aging phenomena in mammals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a unifying framework for understanding age-related cellular changes.
- To highlight the role of neural and endocrine systems in mammalian aging.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of a widely scattered literature on aging mechanisms.
- Review of studies on hormonal and neural regulation of cellular processes.
Main Results:
- Hormones and neural factors significantly influence mammalian cellular aging.
- Age-related changes appear to be an extension of post-maturation neural and endocrine control.
Conclusions:
- Age-related cellular changes are primarily driven by extensions of developmental neural and endocrine regulatory mechanisms.
- A regulatory cascade of neural, endocrine, and target-tissue interactions underlies aging after maturation.
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