Resilience integrates concepts in aging research

Daniel Promislow*, Rozalyn M. Anderson*, Marten Scheffer*, Bernard Crespi, James DeGregori, Kelley Harris, Barbara Natterson Horowitz, Morgan E. Levine, Maria A. Riolo, David S. Schneider, Sabrina L. Spencer, Dario Riccardo Valenzano, Michael E. Hochberg*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Aging research is unparalleled in the breadth of disciplines it encompasses, from evolutionary studies examining the forces that shape aging to molecular studies uncovering the underlying mechanisms of age-related functional decline. Despite a common focus to advance our understanding of aging, these disciplines have proceeded along distinct paths with little cross-talk. We propose that the concept of resilience can bridge this gap. Resilience describes the ability of a system to respond to perturbations by returning to its original state. Although resilience has been applied in a few individual disciplines in aging research such as frailty and cognitive decline, it has not been explored as a unifying conceptual framework that is able to connect distinct research fields. We argue that because a resilience-based framework can cross broad physiological levels and time scales it can provide the missing links that connect these diverse disciplines. The resulting framework will facilitate predictive modeling and validation and influence targets and directions in research on the biology of aging.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104199
JournaliScience
Volume25
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2022

Keywords

  • Biological sciences
  • Cell biology
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Health sciences
  • Molecular biology

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