This is another of these potentially downstream things where a failure in the digestive system may be causing some issues, but I don’t think it is the source of aging or the source of most age related diseases although it probably does no help.
Whichever way it is another thing to look at and they should be welcomed in doing research even if the research appears at this point to be a dead end.
Longevity research has traditionally emphasized peripheral organ systems, metabolic optimization, and molecular aging pathways, while comparatively neglecting the central nervous system as the primary determinant of healthspan. This editorial advances the thesis that the brain functions as the rate-limiting organ of longevity. Drawing on systems neuroscience, clinical neurology, and evidence from neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disease, it is argued that progressive disruption of neural networks governs functional decline across multiple physiological systems, regardless of peripheral biological age. Cognitive resilience, autonomic regulation, sleep integrity, affective stability, and behavioral capacity are centrally mediated processes that determine an individual’s ability to maintain homeostasis over time. When brain function deteriorates, lifespan may persist, but meaningful healthspan collapses. A Brain-First Longevity Framework (BFLF) is proposed that prioritizes preservation and restoration of neural network function as foundational to extending durable, functional longevity. BFLF has direct implications for clinical practice, therapeutic development, and the future architecture of longevity medicine.
Incidentally, Josh Mitteldorf had an old theory about the hypothalamus:
https://scienceblog.com/joshmitteldorf/2015/06/12/is-there-an-aging-clock-in-the-hypothalamus/
I believe that aging is centrally controlled on a schedule. Most researchers don’t believe that yet, but everyone accepts broad evidence that the timing of aging can be modified by central signals. All the signals about hunger and stress and sex, etc, that affect aging must somehow be integrated into a decision. It seems logical that this happens in the brain, and messages are passed to the body through chemical signals. This is a process that is just beginning to be understood, but the biochemists who study regulation to the brain are looking to the hypothalamus as a probable center for time-keeping, decision-making, and broadcast of chemical signals that regulate aging. We may hope that if the hypothalamus thinks we are young, then it will make us young. (I discussed some background in this space 2 years ago.)