Veterinary Physiology Commons^™

Repeated Stressors In Adulthood Increase The Rate Of Biological Ageing, Michaela Hau, Mark F. Haussmann, Timothy J. Greives, Christa Matlack, David Costantini, Michael Quetting, James S. Adelman, Ana C. Miranda, Jesko Partecke

James S. Adelman

Individuals of the same age can differ substantially in the degree to which they have accumulated tissue damage, akin to bodily wear and tear, from past experiences. This accumulated tissue damage reflects the individual’s biological age and may better predict physiological and behavioural performance than the individual‘s chronological age. However, at present it remains unclear how to reliably assess biological age in individual wild vertebrates. We exposed hand-raised adult Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) to a combination of repeated immune and disturbance stressors for over one year to determine the effects of chronic stress on potential biomarkers of biological ageing including …