Title: Why brain functions may deteriorate with aging: a thermodynamic evaluation

Authors: Cennet Yildiz; Mustafa Özilgen

Addresses: Department of Food Engineering, Yeditepe University, 34755 Atasehir, Istanbul, Turkey ' Department of Food Engineering, Yeditepe University, 34755 Atasehir, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract: Oxidative Gibbs free energy utilisation capacity and the entropy generation rate of the brain decreases with ageing. At the present level of our knowledge, we may say that the ageing damage to the brain functions may be caused by the decreasing brain work performance ability due to deterioration of the energy generation capacity of the mitochondria and the decreasing work performance ability of the warned-out ion pumps. Thermodynamic assessment points to the muscle work performance ability as the place to look at. Nature has equipped the muscle cells with healing capability, in terms of fixing the damage to the mitochondria or multiplying their numbers. If the same natural healing technologies may be implemented to the brain cells, ageing damage to the brain cells may be at least partly recovered.

Keywords: ageing in the brain; mitochondrial energy; entropy generation; Gibbs free energy utilisation; ion pumps; work performance efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2022.120110

International Journal of Exergy, 2022 Vol.37 No.1, pp.87 - 101

Received: 19 Dec 2020
Accepted: 04 Mar 2021
Published online: 07 Jan 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article