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Abstract

The maladaptation theory of aging states that aging in living systems results from ontogenetic maladaptation, i.e. adaptation which harms the organism over its lifetime. At the heart of maladaptation theory sits the adaptation-maladaptation dilemma (AM-dilemma) which describes the constraint that the set of mechanisms which protect the organism from harm (adaptation) inevitably causes harm itself over time (maladaptation) leading to a situation in which the system cannot protect itself from its own protection mechanisms. Every adaptation mechanism in a system which counters a stressor is in itself a stressor to the system. Aging might thus ultimately be a failure of recursive adaptation. A central accumulation mechanism for the ratchet-like progression of dysfunction during aging is based on the formation of maladaptive memories. To reduce the effects of progressive maladaptation, the organism implements various strategies within the constraints of the AM-dilemma, including downregulation of adaptative capacity (e.g. cellular senescence to reduce cancer risk) and increasing counter-adaptations (e.g. increasing inflammation and autoimmunity to control cancer). Because counterefforts to reduce maladaptation are usually harmful themselves over time, many aging-related processes can be said to be in an adaptation-maladaptation superposition. The theory implies that, within certain limits, optimal aging can be ensured by an uncoupling of adaptation and maladaptation but that true life extension might require the offloading of maladaptation burden to the organism’s environment.