Adaptive response
In biology and cybernetics, the ability of organisms and self-regulating systems to actively adapt to changing environmental conditions is called adaptive (Latin: adaptare , to adapt) .
The term is usually used more narrowly than adaptation and often refers to the adaptability of the sensory organs to the strength of the stimuli - in particular the eyes and hearing . The adaptation of the eye to changing light conditions takes place through the pupil size and the switch between day and night vision .
In addition to organs, there are also adaptive reactions in cells . Nuclear medicine is researching how low-dose radon stimulates the body's own protective mechanisms against the formation of radicals . Weak ionizing radiation is also said to have a protective effect against cancer, which TD Luckey ( hormesis analyzes on plants and lower animals) explains with the adaptive response of the cell to stress.
Lymphocytes and other cell types become less sensitive to genetic damage at extremely low "adaptive doses" of genotoxic substances when they later receive a higher dose of similar substances.
It has long been known that not only breathing, but also tissue metabolism can adapt to a noticeable lack of oxygen ( hypoxydosis ). Also fever is not just a by-product of increased metabolic rate, but an adaptive response, which also show some lizards. When animals are at the same temperature , the temperature of the body thermostat is turned up in order to accelerate the destruction of pathogenic germs by the immune system .
In pain therapy , the adaptive response of nociceptors and conclusions on what is known as pain memory is researched. Even periodontics suspects adaptive mechanisms in tooth loosening, where changing the position of the tooth avoids trauma and it later becomes firm again.
Adaptive reactions of the forks of branches to the load caused by the fruit were found on fruit trees ; apple and plum trees aged 3 to 5 were tested.
In bacterial stress-induced occur mutations when lactose is the only available food source. The increased mutation rate is attributed to the activation of the cell's own DNA repair systems, which are less active under normal conditions.
The question of how a generation-spanning adaptation to a changed environment takes place in higher living beings (" evolutionary adaptation ") is one of the research areas of evolutionary biology .
The psychology describes as adaptive response u. a. adapting behavior to changes in the environment. In the case of learning behavior, for example, it is interpreted as a form of self-organization.
In psychiatric clinics, some patients develop adapted but psychotic behavior patterns in order to avoid conflicts with the prison staff. They experience a certain correspondence in the perception of institutional life and their own, albeit degraded, identity.
According to Clark L. Hull's theory of motivation , the organism already has a number of adaptive mechanisms at its disposal at birth, but most of them are acquired through learning processes: the reaction that reduces an immediate biological need is reinforced by repeated occurrence. Also driving stimuli are suspected, but had great importance for the survival of the organism while not motivational function; the organism learns to associate adaptive behavior with them.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Adaptive response in human blood lymphocytes to HF radiation .
- ↑ Adaptive mechanisms in case of lack of oxygen .
- ↑ Peter Markl: From the meaning of diseases. Archived from the original on February 5, 2006 ; Retrieved February 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Jürgen Sandkühler: Neurobiological foundations of pain memory . In: psychoneuro . tape 31 , no. 2 , 2005, p. 77–80 ( PDF [accessed February 22, 2013]).
- ↑ Periodontics and function .
- ↑ The influence of weight on the adaptive reaction in the fork of a branch, Pro Baum volume 4/2006 .
- ↑ DNA repair ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( MS PowerPoint ; 1.1 MB).
- ↑ Differential learning ( MS Word ; 485 kB).
- ↑ Stigmatization of the mentally disabled .
- ↑ Adaptive achievement motivation ( Memento of the original from July 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
