Environmental stimuli such as temperature, food, and smell significantly influence the physiology and behavior of animals. Animals are differentially adapted to maintain their internal body functions in response to varied environmental conditions. These external cues are sensed by specialized neurons which are a part of the chemosensory and thermosensory systems. The inability to respond correctly to varied environmental conditions may result in compromised bodily functions and reduced longevity. For example, the ability to sense food is derived from the integrated action of olfactory and gustatory systems. The damage to the olfactory system will affect our decision of palatable food items which in turn can affect the response of the gustatory system, ultimately causing abnormal feeding habits. Recent studies have provided evidence that aging is regulated by sensory perception of environment. Aging is one of the most common causes of various neurodegenerative diseases and the perception of environmental cues is also found to regulate the development of neurodegenerative phenotype in several animal models. However, specific molecular signaling pathways involved in the process are not completely understood. The research conducted on one of the best-studied animal models of aging, Caenorhabditis elegans, has demonstrated multiple examples of gene–environment interaction at the neuronal level which affects life span. The findings may be useful to identify the key neuronal regulators of aging and age-related diseases in humans owing to conserved core metabolic and aging pathways from worms to humans.

中文翻译：

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环境线索作为衰老和神经退化调节剂的感官知觉：来自秀丽隐杆线虫的见解

温度、食物和气味等环境刺激会显着影响动物的生理和行为。动物因不同的环境条件而不同地适应以维持其内部身体功能。这些外部线索由专门的神经元感知，这些神经元是化学感应和热感应系统的一部分。无法正确应对各种环境条件可能会导致身体机能受损和寿命缩短。例如，感知食物的能力来源于嗅觉和味觉系统的综合作用。嗅觉系统受损会影响我们对可口食物的决定，进而影响味觉系统的反应，最终导致饮食习惯异常。最近的研究提供了证据表明衰老是由对环境的感官知觉来调节的。衰老是各种神经退行性疾病的最常见原因之一，并且还发现对环境线索的感知可以调节几种动物模型中神经退行性表型的发展。然而，参与该过程的特定分子信号通路尚不完全清楚。这项研究是在研究最充分的衰老动物模型之一上进行的，秀丽隐杆线虫，已经证明了影响寿命的神经元水平的基因-环境相互作用的多个例子。由于从蠕虫到人类的保守核心代谢和衰老途径，这些发现可能有助于确定人类衰老和年龄相关疾病的关键神经元调节因子。