Hello, and welcome to week one, of Growing Old Around the Globe.
This week's question is, What is aging?
Aging occurs through a number of different processes.
One of the processes we're going to talk about this week, is the biology of aging.
Which depends upon senescence and the interaction our
bodies and ourselves have, with the environment around us.
Senescence, the word itself, comes from the Latin meaning, to grow older.
Senescence is the programmed deterioration and cell death,
that occurs normally in our bodies as we age.
In popular culture and media, aging is stereotypically thought of, as the decline
in older age, evident by physical changes, such as grey hair and wrinkling skin.
But we know that they're many other changes and processes at play here.
Psychological aging, is really about what happens to the individual, and
their identity throughout the life course, and especially in later years.
In many ways, this is the interaction between
our brains, our bodies, our behaviors, and our environment.
There's also the concept of social aging.
The effect of aging individuals and their families.
Their relationships, social worlds, and communities.
You'll hear our experts speak particularly of social engagement in later life.
You can contrast this, with the common
association of social isolation, in later life.
Which can be so extreme, that it
results in what anthropologists term, social death.
Social aging, is a common thread that we will
weave throughout our course, over the next six weeks.
Now, enjoy the videos, and I hope to see you at the webcast on Wednesday.
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