This article by Tony Wright is a summary of a simple explanation for ancestral myths of longevity and a potential route to restoring a Methuselahian life span.
Humans and a number of our primate relatives are unusually long-lived compared to most species of mammals. Some people have made it to 120 years or more in recent times, and expecting to reach at least your 80th birthday is not unrealistic.
However, it seems for many that this is not long enough and research into extending longevity has become a major industry. Interestingly, there are myths of extreme longevity implying ancestral life spans that defy reason. One factor that has emerged as a guide to longevity is the physiological age of the brain. Simplistically, the physiological age of the brain dictates the physiological age of everything else. This is due to the physiological age of the brain being reflected in the degree of juvenility or maturation of the hormonal or endocrine regime it runs.
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