Vital rates from the action of mutation accumulation

TL;DR

This paper introduces new models for mutation accumulation that connect evolutionary theories of aging with demographic hazard functions, providing insights into mortality patterns like Gompertz hazards and mortality plateaus.

Contribution

It develops novel models linking mutation accumulation with age-specific mortality, bridging evolutionary and functional perspectives on aging.

Findings

Models explain Gompertz mortality patterns.

Potential explanation for mortality plateaus.

Integration of evolutionary and functional aging theories.

Abstract

New models for evolutionary processes of mutation accumulation allow hypotheses about the age-specificity of mutational effects to be translated into predictions of heterogeneous population hazard functions. We apply these models to questions in the biodemography of longevity, including proposed explanations of Gompertz hazards and mortality plateaus, and use them to explore the possibility of melding evolutionary and functional models of aging.