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Allostasis: A New Paradigm to Explain Arousal Pathology

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homeostasis versus allostasis mechanisms of allostasis allostatic regulation of the immune response regulation of arousal pathology from chronic arousal definitions of health and approaches to therapeutics hypertension / psychoneuriommunology / iatrogenesis / health (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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... This outcome reflects on the preparedness of the organism to deal with the normal and critical situations and may provide the degree of adaptability of an organism either in new environment/ settlement/shelter and different geographical zone. This is an endogenous process that expresses the degree of adaptation during the state of normal, acute stress conditions and restoration of homeostatic status (Sterling and Eyer, 1988). As far as vertebrates are concerned, one finds overlapping between homeostatic process and the physiological fluctuations resulting in a vertebrate due to the induced stress or shift from the normal state (Nicola, 2008). ...
... The immune system also has its share of interaction in allostasis; with in interference of brain, the immune cells undergo proliferation, migration and these cells release cytokines and interleukins. As a result, there is an increase of 'internal temperature set point' and the most of the metabolic mechanism function in support of survival or to tide over the period of stress or of allostatic over-load (Sterling and Eyer, 1988). ...
... Allostasis is an endogenous process that expresses the degree of adaptation during the state of acute stress and restoration of homeostatic status (Sterling and Eyer, 1988). As far as vertebrates are concerned, one finds overlapping between homeostatic process and the physiological fluctuations, these affect a vertebrate/ organism due to the induced stress (Nicola, 2008). ...
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ABSTRACT : The physiological dynamic steady-state is a characteristic feature of an organisms. Deviation from this steadystate reflects on the molecular, biochemical, physiological, psychological, disorders in the organism. This is inbuilt processwhich orchestrate the dynamic steady-state in an organism may it be microscopic or macroscopic. This feature helps insurviving the adverse and unfavourable conditions. Allostasis, homeostasis are heterostatsis are the endogenous processesconcerning with internal physiological functional stability in an organism. These processes play major role to carry out the lifeprocess within the limits of specific size, shape of cells, tissues, organs and symmetrical organization of a biosystem. Thispresentation briefly illustrates this self-regulated dynamic steady state and its physiological and biological implication (PDF) DYNAMIC STEADY STATE, SENESCENCE AND IMPACT OF NANOPARTICLES. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389024753_DYNAMIC_STEADY_STATE_SENESCENCE_AND_IMPACT_OF_NANOPARTICLES [accessed Feb 15 2025].
... Allostasis and homeostasis can affect the sustainability of the neuroplasticity of various brain regions such as, but not limited to, the cortex, hippocampus, and the amygdala. Homeostasis, a term first coined by Walter Cannon [93], refers to the maintenance of a state of internal balance through physiological regulation and constant adjustments to bodily systems, while allostasis emphasizes the dynamic regulatory processes that prepare the body for anticipated challenges [94]. Both are vital to normal physiological functioning; however, chronic allostatic load can have profound implications on brain structures such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and cortex through the dysregulation of the HPA axis. ...
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The global rise in mental health-related disorders represents a significant health and wellbeing challenge, imposing a substantial social and economic burden on individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. According to the World Health Organization, one in four people globally will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives, highlighting a significant global health concern that warrants carefully considered and innovative responses. While mental health challenges arise from complex, multifaceted factors, emerging research indicates that the built environment-the architecture of our homes, workplaces, and public spaces-may exert a critical but underappreciated influence on mental health outcomes. This paper outlines a novel theoretical framework for how visual stressors in the built environment might trigger neurophysiological stress responses via the HPA and SAM axes, potentially contributing over time to allostatic load. In this paper, it is proposed that chronic physiological strain can alter neuroplastic processes and neurogenesis in key brain regions-such as the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and amygdala-thereby affecting cognitive health, emotional regulation, and overall mental wellbeing. Drawing on the principle of neurosustainability, this paper suggests that long-term exposure to stress-inducing environments may create feedback loops, particularly involving the amygdala, that have downstream effects on other brain areas and may be linked to adverse mental health outcomes such as depression. By presenting this framework, this paper aims to inspire further inquiry and applied experimental research into the intersection of neurophysiology, mental health, and the built environment, with a particular emphasis on rigorous testing and validation of the proposed mechanisms, that may then be translated into practical architectural design strategies for supporting health and wellbeing. In doing so, it is hoped that this work may contribute to a more holistic approach to improving mental health that integrates the creation of nurturing, resilient spaces into the broader public health agenda.
... Communications Psychology | (2025) 3:22 -i.e., allostasis 100 . A key theoretical difference between homeostasis and allostasis is that the latter, which literally means "stability through change" 95 , involves regulated variables that are not fixed 94,102 . Therefore, the "desired" or "set" range of values for the regulated variable can and should change to better support the regulatory goal of engagement. ...
... An inability to manage uncertainty is linked to stress and illness. The anticipatory actions that underpin our ability to manage expected error reflect allostasis, which describes the adaptive changes that respond to external perturbation, maintaining homeostasis (Sterling & Eyer, 1988;McEwen, 1998;McEwen & Wingfield, 2003;Barrett, et al. 2016). Being in an unresolved allostatic state demands that the body operate beyond its typical physiological setpoints: for example, the changes in physiology (like rapid breathing) accompanying a perceived threat. ...
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This article applies the thesis of the extended mind to ambient smart environments. These systems are characterised by an environment, such as a home or classroom, infused with multiple, highly networked streams of smart technology working in the background, learning about the user and operating without an explicit interface or any intentional sensorimotor engagement from the user. We analyse these systems in the context of work on the “classical” extended mind, characterised by conditions such as “trust and glue” and phenomenal transparency, and find that these conditions are ill-suited to describing our engagement with ambient smart environments. We then draw from the active inference framework, a theory of brain function which casts cognition as a process of embodied uncertainty minimisation, to develop a version of the extended mind grounded in a process ontology, where the boundaries of mind are understood to be multiple and always shifting. Given this more fluid account of the extended mind, we argue that ambient smart environments should be thought of as extended allostatic control systems, operating more or less invisibly to support an agent’s biological capacity for minimising uncertainty over multiple, interlocking timescales. Thus, we account for the functionality of ambient smart environments as extended systems, and in so doing, utilise a markedly different version of the classical thesis of extended mind.
... Allostasis is a dynamic adaptive capacity based on predictive control, in which the internal environmental setpoint itself is dynamically adjusted to increase control efficiency. In other words, it maintains the stability of the internal environment by changing and adapting to acute stress [58]. EAT initially acts as an acute transient stress, but the body repeatedly adapts through repetitive EAT stimulation [53]. ...
... The principle draws on the concepts of homeostasis (Cannon 1932) and allostasis (Sterling 1988;Sterling and Eyer 1988) in biology, extending them to include the active prediction and adaptation to environmental changes. While homeostasis refers to maintaining vital variables within a set range, allostasis describes achieving stability through change, emphasizing biological regulation's predictive and adaptive nature. ...
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The author presents a discussion of the steady states (homeostases) of the body, with the explanation, so far as such is possible, of the mechanisms controlling such conditions. The account is closed with analogies between the regulation of the body and the regulation of social processes. Brief bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)