Kyriazis Marios
ELPIs Foundation for Indefinite Lifespans, York Road, London, TW10 6DR, UK.
Biogerontology. 2017 Aug;18(4):711-715. doi: 10.1007/s10522-017-9680-1. Epub 2017 Feb 9.
The pace of technology is steadily increasing, and this has a widespread effect on all areas of health and society. When we interact with this technological environment we are exposed to a wide variety of new stimuli and challenges, which may modulate the stress response and thus change the way we respond and adapt. In this Opinion paper I will examine certain aspects of the human-computer interaction with regards to health and ageing. There are practical, everyday effects which also include social and cultural elements. I will discuss how human evolution may be affected by this new environmental change (the hormetic immersion in a virtual/technological environment). Finally, I will also explore certain biological aspects which have direct relevance to the ageing human. By embracing new technologies and engaging with a techno-social ecosystem (which is no longer formed by several interacting species, but by just two main elements: humans and machines), we may be subjected to beneficial hormetic effects, which upregulate the stress response and modulate adaptation. This is likely to improve overall health as we age and, as I speculate here, may also result in the reduction of age-related dysfunction.
技术发展的步伐在稳步加快，这对健康和社会的所有领域都产生了广泛影响。当我们与这种技术环境互动时，会接触到各种各样的新刺激和挑战，这些可能会调节应激反应，从而改变我们的反应和适应方式。在这篇观点论文中，我将探讨人机交互在健康和衰老方面的某些问题。其中存在一些实际的日常影响，还包括社会和文化因素。我将讨论人类进化可能如何受到这种新的环境变化（即沉浸于虚拟/技术环境中的应激效应）的影响。最后，我还将探索与衰老的人类直接相关的某些生物学方面。通过接受新技术并融入技术社会生态系统（该系统不再由多个相互作用的物种构成，而是仅由两个主要元素组成：人类和机器），我们可能会受到有益的应激效应影响，这种效应会上调应激反应并调节适应能力。随着年龄的增长，这可能会改善整体健康状况，而且正如我在此推测的那样，还可能导致与年龄相关的功能障碍减少。
