Abstract

PEREIRA, Aline et al. Aging, stress, and society: a psychoneuroendocrinological view. Ciênc. cogn. [online]. 2004, vol.1, pp. 34-53. ISSN 1806-5821.

This current article tries to explain, in a first moment, the general aspects of stress as well as its importance in the context of senescence. It also approaches the natural process of aging in a social and biological context and aspects that can accelerate or delay the aging process. On the biological approach, we will focus on the model of central control of stress and the consequent activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by different areas of the brain, unchained by stressors. We still demonstrate their neurophysiological alterations, attesting that the neural circuits of stress are crucial to survival and to the stability of the physiological and the psychological functions. Besides that, this review analyzed the relationship between the elderly's health and their social interactions, as well as the importance that the social interactions have to the health. We show that people, in a social context, expect reciprocity, and that the absence of that can have a great impact on the third age. It can make them dependents and also affects their physical and mental health in different ways. © Ciências & Cognição 2004; Vol. 01: 34-53.

Keywords : stress; aging; health; elderly; society.

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