Comprehensive Physiology Wiley Online Library
For Librarians For Authors Editors About

Loss of Integration and Resiliency with Age: A Dissipative Destruction

F. Eugene Yates, Laurel A. Benton

10.1002/cphy.cp110122

Source: Supplement 28: Handbook of Physiology, Aging

Originally published: 1995

Published online: January 2011

Full Article on Wiley Online Library



Abstract

The sections in this article are:

1 Senescence
1.1 Models in Science
1.2 Senescence Is Not the Same as Aging
1.3 What Senesces?
1.4 System Death or Component Death
2 Regular Phenomena
2.1 Increases in Regularity with Senescence
2.2 Regularity of a Variable's Time History
3 Physical Background of Senescence
3.1 Complexity
3.2 Order
3.3 Vertical Integration (Hierarchy)
3.4 Horizontal Integration (Heterarchy)
3.5 Causality
3.6 Stability
3.7 Energy vs. Entropy in Self‐Organization
4 General Principle of Homeodynamic Senescence
4.1 Homeodynamics Instead of Homeostasis
4.2 Irreversibility and Constraints
4.3 Biological Markers of Age
5 Homeodynamics and Predictability
5.1 Specifying the Homeodynamic Construct
5.2 Fluctuations and Chance
6 Counterintuitive Effects of Clamping a Homeodynamic System
6.1 Environmental Potentials
6.2 Clamping
7 Redefinition of Senescence
7.1 Escape from Senescence‐Induced Fatal Failures by Re‐Initialization
7.2 Summary of Characteristics of Senescence as Homeodynamic Instability
8 Aspects of Senescence
8.1 Aspect Theories
8.2 Generalizations from Aspect Theories
9 Wear‐and‐Tear Revisited
9.1 Reliability Theory for Machines
10 Human Senescence as Dissipative Destruction
10.1 Component Failure–Cell Culture Senescence
10.2 Dissipative Destruction as Basis of Gompertz Mortality Kinetics
11 Summary
References
 1. Abernethy, J. D. The exponential increase in mortality rate with age attributed to wearing‐out of biological components. J. Theor. Biol. 80: 333–354, 1979.
 2. Abraham, R. H., and C. D. Shaw. Dynamics: a visual introduction. In: Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, edited by F. E. Yates. New York: Plenum Press, 1987, p. 543–598.
 3. Anderson, P. W. More is different. Science 177: 393–396, 1972.
 4. Austad, S. N., and K. E. Fischer. Mammalian aging, metabolism, and ecology: evidence from bats and marsupials. J. Gerontol. (Biol. Sci.) 46: B47–B53, 1991.
 5. Bak, P., C. Tang, and K. Wiesenfeld. Self‐organized criticality: an explanation of 1/f noise. Phys. Rev. Lett. 59: 381–384, 1987.
 6. Barham, J. A Poincaréan approach to evolutionary epistemology. J. Soc. Biol. Struct. 13: 193–258, 1990.
 7. Barham, J. From enzymes to E = mc2: A reply to critics. J. Soc. Evol. Sys. 15: 249–306, 1992.
 8. Barlow, R. E., and F. Proschan. Mathematical Theory of Reliability. New York: Wiley, 1965.
 9. Barlow, R. E., and F. Proschan. Statistical Theory of Reliability and Life Testing Probability Models. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975.
 10. Bassingthwaighte, J. B., R. B. King, J. E. Sambrook, and B. Van Steenwyk. Fractal analysis of blood‐tissue exchange kinetics. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 222: 15–23, 1988.
 11. Beatty, J., What's wrong with the received view of evolutionary theory? In: Philosophy of Science Association, edited by P. D. Asquith and A. M. Giere, 1981, Greenwich, CT; JAI Press, vol. 2, p. 397–426.
 12. Birren, J. E., A contribution to the theory of the psychology of aging: as a counterpart of development. In: Emergent Theories of Aging, edited by J. E. Birren and V. L. Bengtson. New York: Springer, 1988, p. 153–176.
 13. Birren, J. E., and V. L. Bengtson (Eds). Emergent Theories of Aging. New York: Springer, 1988.
 14. Bortz, II, W. M. Aging as entropy. Exp. Gerontol. 21: 321–328, 1986.
 15. Bortz, II, W. M. We Live Too Short and Die Too Long. New York: Bantam, 1991.
 16. Bortz, II, W. M. The physics of frailty. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 41: 1004–1008, 1993.
 17. Boxenbaum, H. Gompertz mortality analysis: aging, longevity hormesis and toxicity. Arch. Gerontol. Geriatr. 13: 125–138, 1991.
 18. Cannon, W. B. Organization for physiological homeostasis. Physiol. Rev. 9: 399–431, 1929.
 19. Careri, G. Order and Disorder in Matter, translated by K. Jarratt. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings, 1984.
 20. Cepko, C. What do progenitor cells tell their daughters during development of the cerebral cortex? J. N.I.H. Res. 4: 60–62, 1992.
 21. Cunningham, W. R., and J. E. Birren. Age changes in the factor structure of intellectual abilities in adulthood and old age. Educ. Psychol. Measurement 40: 271–290, 1980.
 22. Cutler, R. G., Human longevity and aging: possible role of reactive oxygen species. In: Physiological Senescence and Its Postponement, edited by W. Pierpaoli and N. Fabris. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1991, vol. 621, p. 1–28.
 23. Decroly, O., and A. Goldbeter. Biorhythmicity, chaos, and other patterns of temporal self‐organization in a multiply regulated biochemical system. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79: 6917–6921, 1982.
 24. Edelman, G. M. Topobiology: An Introduction to Molecular Embryology. New York: Basic Books, 1988.
 25. Eigen, M. Steps Towards Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
 26. Fabris, N., D. Harman, D. L. Knook, E. Steinhagen‐Thiessen, and I. Zs‐Nagy (Eds). Physiopathological Processes of Aging: Towards a Multi‐Causal Interpretation. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1992, vol. 673.
 27. Finch, C. E. Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
 28. Franceschi, C., G. Crepaldi, V. J. Cristofalo, and J. Vijg, (Eds). Aging and Cellular Mechanisms. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1992, vol. 663.
 29. Fries, J. F., and L. M. Crapo. Vitality and Aging. San Francisco: Freeman, 1981.
 30. Frolkis, V. V., and K. K. Muradian. Life Span Prolongation. Boca Raton, EL: CRC Press, 1991.
 31. Galston, A. W. Life Processes of Plants. New York: Scientific American Library, 1994.
 32. Gavrilov, L. A. Investigation of life span genetics using kinetic analysis. Ph.D. diss., Moscow State University, Moscow (in Russian), 1980.
 33. Gavrilov, L. A., and N. S. Gavrilova. The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach. English edition translated by J. Payne and L. Payne. New York: Harwood, 1991. (Originally in Russian, edited by V. P. Skulachev, Moscow: Nauka, 1986.).
 34. Goldbeter, A. Periodic signaling as an optimal mode of intercellular communication. News in Physiological Science 3: 103–105, 1988.
 35. Goldbeter, A., and G. Dupont. Allosteric regulation, cooperativity, and biochemical oscillations. Biophys. Chem. 37: 341–353, 1990.
 36. Hayflick, L., and P. S. Moorhead. The serial cultivation of human diploid cell strains. Exp. Cell Res. 25: 585–621, 1961.
 37. Holliday, R. The ancient origins and causes of ageing. NIPS 7: 38–40, 1992.
 38. Holliday, R., and T. C. L. Kirkwood. Predictions of the somatic mutation and mortalization theories of cellular ageing are contrary to experimental observations. J. Theor. Biol. 93: 627–642, 1981.
 39. Houx, P. J., F. W. Vreeling, and J. Jolles. Age‐associated cognitive decline is related to biological life events. In: Alzheimer's Disease: Basic Mechanisms, Diagnosis and Therapeutic Strategies, edited by K. Iqbal, D. R. C. McLachlin, B. Winblad, and H. M. Wisniewski. Chichester, UK: Wiley, 1991, p. 353–358.
 40. Iberall, A. S. What is “language” that can facilitate the flow of information? A contribution to a fundamental theory of language and communication. J. Theor. Biol. 102: 347–359, 1983.
 41. Iberall, A. S., and H. Soodak. Physical basis for complex systems—some propositions relating levels of organizations. Collea. Phenom. 3: 9–24, 1978.
 42. Iberall, A. S., and H. Soodak. A physics for complex systems. In: Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, edited by F. E. Yates. New York: Plenum Press, 1987, p. 499–520.
 43. Kauffman, S. A. Antichaos and adaptation. Sci. Am. 265: 78–84, 1991.
 44. Kauffman, S. A. The Origins of Order. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
 45. Kenyon, G. M., J. E. Birren, and J. J. F. Schroots (Eds). Metaphors of Aging in Science and the Humanities. New York: Springer, 1991.
 46. Lanczos, C. The Variational Principles of Mechanics (3rd ed.), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966.
 47. Leucftter, A. F., J. E. Spar, D. O. Walter, and H. Weiner. Electroencephalographs: spectra and coherence in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's‐type and multi‐infarct dementia. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 44: 993–998, 1987.
 48. Li, Y.‐X., and A. Goldbeter. Frequency specificity in intercellular communication: influence of patterns of periodic signaling on target cell responsiveness. Biophys. J. 55: 125–145, 1989.
 49. Li, Y.‐X., and A. Goldbeter. Pulsatile signaling in intercellular communication: periodic stimuli are more efficient than random or chaotic signals in a model based on receptor desensitization. Biophys. J. 61: 161–171, 1992.
 50. Lipsitz, L. A., and A. L. Goldberger. Loss of “complexity” and aging. JAMA 267: 1806–1809, 1992.
 51. Manton, K. G., and M. A. Woodbury. A mathematical model of the physiological dynamics of aging and correlated mortality selection. II: Application to the Duke Longitudinal Study. J. Gerontol. 38: 406–413, 1983.
 52. Manton, K. G., E. Stallard, M. A. Woodbury, and J. E. Dowd. Time‐varying covariates in models of human mortality and aging: multidimensional generalizations of the Gompertz. J. Gerontol. (Biol. Sci.) 49: B169–B190, 1994.
 53. Medawar, P. B. An Unsolved Problem of Biology. London: Lewis, 1952.
 54. Medawar, P., A geometric model of reduction and emergence. In: Studies in the Philosophy of Biology, edited by F. J. Ayala and C. H. Waddington. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975, p. 57–64.
 55. Monod, J. Chance and Necessity. New York: Knopf, 1971.
 56. Murphy, E. A., Muddling, meddling, and modeling. In: Genetic Basis of Epilepsy, edited by V. E. Anderson, W. A. Hauser, J. K. Penry, and C. F. Sing. New York: Raven Press, 1982, p. 333–348.
 57. Orgel, L. E. The maintenance of the accuracy of protein synthesis and its relevance to ageing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 49: 517–521, 1963.
 58. Orgel, L. E. The maintenance of the accuracy of protein synthesis and its relevance to ageing: a correction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 67: 1476, 1970.
 59. Pattee, H. H. Dynamic and linguistic modes of complex systems. Int. J. Gen. Sys. 3: 259–266, 1977.
 60. Pattee, H. H., Instabilities and information in biological self‐organization. In: Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, edited by F. E. Yates. New York: Plenum Press, 1987, p. 325–338.
 61. Pattee, H. H., Simulations, realizations, and theories of life. In: Artificial Life, edited by C. G. Langton. Menlo Park, CA: Addison‐Wesley, 1989, p. 63–77.
 62. Pattee, H. H. The limitations of formal models of measurement, control, and cognition. Appl. Math. Comput. (in press), 1994.
 63. Pierpaoli, W., and N. Fabris (Eds). Physiological Senescence and Its Postponement: Theoretical Approaches and Rational Interventions. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1991, vol. 621.
 64. Pierpaoli, W., W. Regelson, and N. Fabris (Eds). The Aging Clock. New York: New York Academy of Science 719, 1994.
 65. Pincus, S. M. Greater signal regularity often indicates increased system isolation. Math. Biosci. (in press), 1994.
 66. Pincus, S. M. HOW and when to look for evolution from order to randomness in practical time‐series analysis. Meth. Enzymol. (in press), 1994.
 67. Pincus, S. M., and A. L. Goldberger. Physiological time‐series analysis: what does regularity quantify? Am. J. Physiol. 266 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 35): H1643–H1646, 1994.
 68. Pincus, S. M., I. M. Gladstone, and R. A. Ehrenkranz. A regularity statistic for medical data analysis. J. Clin. Monitor. 7: 335–345, 1991.
 69. Prigogine, I. Time, structure and fluctuations. Science 201: 777–784, 1978.
 70. Prigogine, I. From Being to Becoming: Time and Complexity in the Physical Sciences. San Francisco: Freeman, 1980.
 71. Rapp, P. E., A. I. Mees, and C. T. Sparrow. Frequency encoded biochemical regulation is more accurate than amplitude‐dependent control. J. Theor. Biol. 90: 531–544.
 72. Raven, P. H. Defining biodiversity. Nature Conservancy 44: 11–15, 1994.
 73. Richardson, I. W., and R. Rosen. Aging and the metrices of time. J. Theor. Biol. 79: 415–423, 1979.
 74. Rose, M. R. Evolutionary Biology of Aging. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
 75. Rosen, R. Feedforward and global system failure: a general mechanism for senescence. J. Theor. Biol. 74: 579–590, 1978.
 76. Rosen, R. Life Itself: A Comprehensive Inquiry into the Nature, Origin, and Fabrication of Life. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991a.
 77. Rosen, R. Beyond dynamical systems. J. Soc. Biol. Struct. 14: 217–220, 1991b.
 78. Rosen, R., Cells and senescence. In: Fundamentals of Medical Cell Biology, Vol. 7: Developmental Biology. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1992, pp. 191–203.
 79. Rosen, R. The Schrödinger question: what is life 50 years later? (preprint available from author, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, Dalhausie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4H7, 1993.).
 80. Rössler, O. E., Chaos in coupled optimizers. In: Perspectives in Biological Dynamics and Theoretical Medicine, edited by S. H. Koslow, A. J. Mandell, and M. F. Shlesinger. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1987, vol. 504, p. 229–240.
 81. Ruelle, D. Chance and Chaos. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
 82. Rusting, R. L. Why do we age? Sci. Am. 267: 130–141, 1992.
 83. Sacher, G. A. Theory in gerontology, part I. Ann. Rev. Gerontol. Geriatr. 1: 3–25, 1980.
 84. Sacher, G., and P. H. Duffy. Genetic relation of lifespan to metabolic rate for inbred mouse strains and their hybrids. Fed. Proc. 38: 184–189, 1979.
 85. Searls, D. B. The linguistics of DNA. Am. Sci. 80: 579–591, 1992.
 86. Schneider, E. D., and J. J. Kay. Life as a manifestation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Math. Comput. Modelling. 19: 25–48, 1994.
 87. Shlesinger, M. F., Fractal time and 1/f noise in complex systems. In: Perspectives in Biological Dynamics and Theoretical Medicine, edited by S. H. Koslow, A. J. Mandell, and M. F. Shlesinger. New York: New York Academy of Science, 1987, vol. 504, p. 214–228.
 88. Solomon, G. F., M. A. Fiatarone, D. Benton, J. E. Morley, E. Bloom, and T. Makinodan. Psychoimmunologic and endorphin function in the aged. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 521: 43–57, 1988.
 89. Soodak, H., and A. S. Iberall. Homeokinetics: a physical science for complex systems. Science 201: 579–582, 1978.
 90. Stear, E. B., Control paradigms and self‐organization in living systems. In: Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, edited by F. E. Yates. New York: Plenum Press, 1987, p. 351–397.
 91. Stent, G. S., Programmatic phenomena, hermeneutics and neural biology. In: Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, edited by F. E. Yates. New York: Plenum Press, 1987, p. 339–345.
 92. Strogatz, S. H., and I. Stewart. Coupled oscillators and biological synchronization. Sci. Am. 269: 102–109, 1993.
 93. Suppes, P. Studies in the Methodology and Foundations of Science. New York: Humanities Press, 1969, p. 18.
 94. Swim, H. E. Microbiological aspects of tissue culture. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 15: 141–176, 1959.
 95. Thom, R. Mathematical Models of Morphogenesis. New York: Halstead Press, 1983.
 96. Thom, R., Halte au hasard, silence au bruit. In: La Querelle du Detérminisme: Philosophic de la Science d'Aujourd'hui, edited by K. Pomian. Paris: Le Débat/Gallimard, 1990, p. 61–78.
 97. Thomson, D. J. Time series analysis of Holocene climate data. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 330: 601–616, 1990.
 98. Weber, B. H., D. J. Depew, C. Dyke, S. N. Salthe, E. D. Schneider, R. E. Ulanowicz, and J. S. Wicken. Evolution in thermodynamic perspective: an ecological approach. Biol. Philos. 4: 373–405, 1989.
 99. Wei, Q., G. M. Matanoski, E. R. Farmer, M. A. Hedayati, and L. Grossman. DNA repair and aging in basal cell carcinoma: a molecular epidemiology study. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90: 1614–1618, 1993.
 100. Weismann, A. Essays Upon Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889.
 101. White, K., M. E. Grether, J. M. Abrams, L. Young, K. Farrell, and H. Steller. Genetic control of programmed cell death in Drosophila. Science 264: 677–683, 1994.
 102. Woodbury, M. A., and K. G. Manton. A mathematical model of the physiological dynamics of aging and correlated mortality selection. I: Theoretical development and critiques. J. Gerontol. 38: 398–405, 1983.
 103. Yamamoto, Y., and R. L. Hughson. Course‐graining spectral analysis: new method for studying heart rate variability. J. Appl. Physiol. 71: 1143–1150, 1991.
 104. Yates, F. E. Outline of a physical theory of physiological systems. Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 60: 217–248, 1982a.
 105. Yates, F. E., Systems analysis of hormone action: principles and strategies. In: Biological Regulation and Development, Vol. 3A: Hormone Action, edited by R. F. Goldberger and K. R. Yamamoto. New York: Plenum Press, 1982b, p. 25–97.
 106. Yates, F. E. Semiotics as a bridge between information (biology) and dynamics (physics.) Rech. Semiot./Semiot. Inqui. 5: 347–360, 1985.
 107. Yates, F. E. (Ed). Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order. New York: Plenum Press, 1987a.
 108. Yates, F. E., Physics of self‐organization. In: Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, edited by F. E. Yates. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 409–416, 1987b.
 109. Yates, F. E., Quantumstuff and biostuff: a view of patterns of convergence in contemporary science. Self‐Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, edited by F. E. Yates. New York: Plenum Press, 1987c, p. 617–644.
 110. Yates, F. E., Evolutionary computing by dynamics in living organisms. In: Advances in Cognitive Science: Steps Toward Convergence, edited by M. Kochen and H. M. Hastings. AAAS Selected Symposia Series. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988a, p. 26–49.
 111. Yates, F. E., The dynamics of aging and time: how physical action implies social action. In: Emergent Theories of Aging, edited by J. E. Birren and V. L. Bengtson. New York: Springer, 1988b, p. 90–117.
 112. Yates, F. E., Aging as prolonged morphogenesis: a sorcerer's apprentice. In: Metaphors of Aging in Science and the Humanities, edited by J. E. Birren and G. Kenyon. New York: Springer‐Verlag, 1991a, p. 199–218.
 113. Yates, F. E., Pharmacosemiotics: where is the message in the drug? In: Semiotic Perspectives on Clinical Theory and Practice—Medicine, Neuropsychiatry and Psychoanalysis, edited by R. E. Litowitz and P. S. Epstein. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1991b, p. 65–79.
 114. Yates, F. E., Fractal applications in biology: scaling time in biochemical networks. In: Methods in Enzymology: Numerical Computer Methods, edited by L. Brand and M. L. Johnson. New York: Academic Press, 1992a, vol. 210, p. 636–675.
 115. Yates, F. E., On the emergence of chemical languages. In: Bio‐semiotics: The Semiotic Web 1991, edited by T. A. Sebeok and J. Umiker‐Sebeok. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1992b, p. 471–486.
 116. Yates, F. E., Self‐organizing systems. In: The Logic of Life, edited by D. Noble. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 189–217.
 117. Yates, F. E. Order and complexity in dynamical systems: homeodynamics as a generalized mechanics for biology. Mathl. Comput. Modelling, 19: 49–74, 1994.
 118. Yates, F. E., and T. Poston. Rate‐controlled delivery of endocrine agents: some paradoxical consequences of controlling the inputs. In: Principles and Applications of Rate‐Controlled Drug Administration and Action, edited by H. A. J. Struyker‐Boudier. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1986, p. 247–272.
 119. Yates, F. E., L. A. Benton, and J. C. Beck. Risk assessment and early detection of functional decline. In: Health, Aging, and Competence: The Next Generation of Longitudinal Studies, edited by J. J. F. Schroots. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1993, p. 87–107.
 120. Yates, F. E., D. J. Marsh, and A. S. Iberall. Integration of the whole organism—a foundation for a theoretical biology. In: Challenging Biological Problems: Directions Toward Their Solution, edited by J. A. Behnke. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972, p. 110–122.
 121. Yu, B. P. Food restriction research: past and present status. Rev. Biol. Res. Aging 4: 349–371, 1990.
 122. Zs.‐Nagy, I., D. Harman, and K. Kitani. (Eds). Pharamcology of Aging Processes. New York: New York Academy of Science vol. 717, 1994.

Contact Editor

Submit a note to the editor about this article by filling in the form below.

* Required Field

Article Title: Loss of Integration and Resiliency with Age: A Dissipative Destruction
 

How to Cite

F. Eugene Yates, Laurel A. Benton. Loss of Integration and Resiliency with Age: A Dissipative Destruction. Compr Physiol 2011, Supplement 28: Handbook of Physiology, Aging: 591-610. First published in print 1995. doi: 10.1002/cphy.cp110122