The human body ages through a series of processes that affect strength, health and cognition, which operate at different rates in different people. That is, the arrow of time does not fly straight.
In this talk, physicist Jean Carlson illustrates how these processes work and discusses how they interact. Her goal is to identify pathways promoting healthy aging, adaptation and resilience, and to formulate a new concept of complex time.
Key message: Pharmaceuticals are important but lifestyle, diet and sleep are essential in staving off aging.
Watch the Video:
Watch some of the highlights:
14:00 Complex time: time is cyclical - tradeoffs, multiscale and homeostasis
14:48 Cells: white blood cells, bone cells and neurons as dynamic systems
16:50 Systems in the body: immune, skeletal, nervous
18:45 Mechanisms of the immune system: innate and adaptive
20:45 Competence of the immune system over time
24:00 Modeling the adaptive response to inflammation and infection in the body
28:15 Disease trajectories
32:00 Bones are constantly remodeling themselves – aging disrupts this process – osteopenia and osteoporosis
36:30 Types of bone and their structure – remodeling by osteoclasts and osteoblasts – effects of aging
47:26 The brain – the five stages of brain development
50:25 The brain does not develop new neurons, the existing neurons form new connections (neuroplasticity)
53:30 The brain’s memory strategies change as you age
54:35 Systems that remain stable and those that decline with age
57:00 Behavior modification to improve cognition – diet, exercise, socializing
59:30 The gut/brain/immune system relationship in aging.