Basic mechanisms of adaptation. What is “adaptation” and what are its mechanisms? General principles and mechanisms of adaptation

Let us turn to the consideration of psychological mechanisms of adaptation. Adaptation mechanisms, from the point of view of Yu. A. Aleksandrovsky, are defined from two points of view: 1) information processing mechanisms, which are characterized as unconscious protective ones and 2) adaptive mechanisms, characterized as conscious, purposeful ones. In connection with the concept of adaptation, characterized as a mechanism of a psychological nature, one can also consider the formation of a certain type of attitude to the requirements of the situation. Types of relationships can be substantive, formal, indifferent, negative, while by substantive we mean an attitude towards the internal essence of the process, by formal - a set of external qualities and characteristics, by indifferent - the absence of any signs and characteristics, by negative - a negative attitude to the adaptation component.

Adaptation is associated with the emergence of a defense mechanism. Often a person is not able to immediately accept and realize the changes taking place in the environment; awareness requires time and awareness of the need or inevitability of changes. Necessity and inevitability should not be perceived as fatality, but should be perceived as a given, therefore the impossibility of changing this given leads to the building of defense mechanisms.

For the first time, the founder of psychoanalysis, S. Freud, began to study subjective methods of protection from unpleasant thoughts and threatening assessments. The scientist believed that during development, a person develops protective mechanisms to protect himself from internal stimuli, related or not related to the situation that has arisen. According to the researcher, one of the main problems of humanity is the problem of overcoming fear and anxiety that arise in a variety of situations.

Z. Freud in his work “Introduction to Psychoanalysis” defined psychological defense as a set of mechanisms that, being the results of development and learning, weaken external and internal conflict and regulate the behavior of an individual. S. Freud associated defense with the following functions of the psyche: balancing, adaptation and regulation. The purpose and goal of various psychological defense mechanisms is to weaken the various components of intrapersonal conflict, which include tension and anxiety that arose as a contradiction between the instinctive, unconscious, and learned or internalized, related to the external environment, arising as a result of the interaction of the individual in society. Psychological protection, weakening this conflict, performs a regulatory function of human behavior, contributing to an increase in the level of adaptability and balance of the psyche.

A follower of this theory, A. Freud noted that typical children's defensive reactions to environmental influences can be considered reactions of refusal, opposition, imitation, compensation and emancipation. If refusal involves a passive reaction, such as rejection of food, food, refusal of games and communication, then opposition is an active form of protest and is realized in the form of outbursts of anger, destructive actions, aggression, motor agitation, and intentional harm to the offender. There are two types of imitation: positive and negative. The child borrows an example for imitation from the environment, which makes this type of defense as imitative and passive as possible.

Compensation as a reaction is associated with the fact that the child emphasizes his positive qualities to overcome negative ones. Finally, emancipation is expressed in the desire to be or appear to be an adult, which is typical, for example, in the case of overprotection of a child.

Psychological adaptation depends on a number of factors, some of which are variable. Variable factors can be defined as individual characteristics, psychological defense mechanisms and strategies that are consciously used by a person in order to cope with difficult situations, conditions and the conditions that give rise to them. A significant role in the process of psychological adaptation is given to demands from the social environment.

Depending on the disorders of early development and the characteristics of the assimilation of previous experience, as well as in the presence of current stressful events, we can talk about the severity of the individual’s maladjustment. Disadaptation can occur due to various reasons, but as a phenomenon opposite to adaptation, it depends on the state of the nervous system and its ability to regulate the processes of inhibition and excitation. Thus, as a rule, the long-term emotional stress experienced by the body, the lack of opportunity for rest and the impossibility of emotional and psychological recovery end in the depletion of physiological regulatory resources and a decrease in the adaptive properties of the nervous system. The level of maladaptation, as well as the level of adaptation, is influenced by such basic innate abilities of the individual as temperament, instincts, emotions and intellectual abilities. They form the basis of adaptability.

The problem of the social buffer occupies a special place in issues of psychological adaptation. Social buffer refers to the resources and opportunities provided by the social environment that an individual uses to adapt. The social buffer is significant as a tool and as a means of personal adaptation. As a means of realizing a person’s communicative abilities, social resources provide access to additional personal resources and significantly increase the adaptive potential of the individual.

An important point in the process of psychological adaptation is the ability to try on and change one’s social roles. The effectiveness of adaptation depends not only on the number of roles used, but also on the justification and adequacy of their choice. Therefore, one of the criteria for psychological adaptation is a person’s ability to critically evaluate his place in a social group, his real capabilities and abilities. Thus, in one situation, an adapter can behave as a leader, as a dominant person, in another situation - as a subordinate subject. This is particularly evident in the situation of adaptation in the classroom: the subject of adaptation cannot be a leader in relations with the teacher, but can be a leader in relations with classmates.

The term “adaptation syndrome”, often used in psychology, refers to a set of signs that accompany the adaptation process. There are three stages in the course of the syndrome: the stage of anxiety, the stage of resistance, the stage of stabilization or exhaustion. The stage of anxiety is characteristic of the initial period of adaptation and is associated with the emergence of an individual’s fears of the unknown, in particular, of the environment into which he enters, and of communication partners. The stage of resistance is considered as a process of rejection of the conditions of the new environment, the conditions of the new team. At this stage, internal obstacles arise that do not allow the individual to unconditionally accept new conditions. This stage ends either with stabilization of the state - the adaptation syndrome develops into normalization of the adaptation process, or leads the person to the stage of exhaustion, when the changes are not accepted internally, do not suit the person, she is not ready to emotionally come to terms with them and feels discomfort from being in a given environmental situation.

Psychological adaptation is a concept that underlies the concept of human health, since the conclusion “mental disorder” is based not on the subjective opinion of a doctor, but on objective signs of a person’s low adaptive ability. Problematic situations that arise during the process of socialization become a trigger for launching adaptation processes.

The need for behavior correction arises in cases of strain on the individual's adaptive capabilities. The presence of well-coordinated compensatory abilities allows a person to be classified as healthy. Nalchadzhyan A.A. addressed the issue of adaptation mechanisms in his works. in the works “Personality, group socialization and mental adaptation” and “Socio-psychological adaptation of the individual”, Berezin F.B. in the study “Mental and psychophysiological adaptation of humans”. These authors consider the adaptation mechanism as a specific structure, including a number of levels: the psychophysiological level of adaptation, the psychological level of adaptation and the social level of adaptation.

The first type of adaptation is defined as a set of physiological reactions of the body. This type of adaptation cannot be considered separately from the mental and personal components, since this type of adaptation cannot exist on its own: a person is a social being, and not just a physiological one. The second type of adaptation (psychological) is the ability to maintain integrity and adequately respond to various environmental situations. According to F.B. Berezina, A.A. Nalchadzhyan and others, it is mental adaptation that provides the most important connections between a person and the environment. The effectiveness of mental adaptation is assessed taking into account its psychophysiological and socio-psychological cost, which is determined by energy and information costs.

Social adaptation is the process of an individual’s adaptation to society. All levels of adaptation simultaneously and to varying degrees participate in the regulatory process.

In the process of psychological adaptation, both the personality and the environment actively change, as a result of which adaptation relations are established between them. M. Velichko identifies several types of psychological adaptation. In particular, alloplastic adaptation is carried out by changes in the external world to suit the existing needs of the individual. Autoplastic adaptation is carried out by changes in the personality structure to environmental conditions. There are general and situational adaptation; general adaptation (and adaptability) is the result of a consistent series of situational adaptations and is correlated with it according to the “general-particular” principle. Social adaptation can be described as the absence of experiencing conflict with the environment.

Our interest in the adaptation process is associated with the concept of socio-psychological adaptation. It is understood as a process of overcoming problematic situations by an individual, during which he uses the socialization skills acquired at previous stages of his development, which allows him to interact with the group without internal or external conflicts. A person is capable, in the process of socio-psychological adaptation, of productively carrying out his leading activities, meeting role expectations and, at the same time, self-affirming, satisfying his basic needs, according to F.B. Berezin.

The process of activation and use of psychological adaptive mechanisms leads to radical changes in the mental state of the individual. The result of the adaptation process is the formation of qualitatively new mental properties, different from those that the individual had before adaptation. In particular, in the process of adaptation, mechanisms of psychological defenses may begin to form: this is manifested in the individual’s partial acceptance of the changes taking place, in the individual’s adaptation to changed conditions. But at the same time, complete acceptance of the situation does not occur. This interpretation of adaptation is characteristic of psychoanalytic concepts, which mark adaptation as a process carried out with the help of psychological defense mechanisms. Protection contributes to the preservation of the internal properties of the individual, on the one hand, on the other hand, it becomes a kind of mechanism for mitigating adaptation. If the defense does not work or social and psychological conditions have too negative an impact on the individual, then either a conflict between the individual and the environment may arise as a way to resolve the contradiction, or a stress mechanism may be activated. It is worth noting that not every adaptation through development and the learning process is conflictual, requiring the inclusion of psychological defense mechanisms.

Another contradiction associated with the adaptation process arises when identifying the situation of individual success with the adaptation process. Adaptation and personal adaptability are not directly related to life success and success, and a person’s success in any area should not be considered a sign of adaptability, just as it is incorrect to consider every failure a sign of lack of adaptation. A person may not have a good prestigious job, from the point of view of many, may not be an excellent student in the class, but at the same time he is perfectly adapted to any social environment and feels comfortable in all aspects. On the contrary, a person has a prestigious job, excellent grades at school, but he does not communicate with peers, is not able to make contact with teachers or other children, he has inflated self-esteem, which prevents equal communication, he believes that the environment is not worthy of him, as well as and his surroundings. In this case, it makes sense to talk about adaptation in the first situation and lack of adaptation in the second. In addition, it must be taken into account that not all human needs contribute to its proper functioning and socio-psychological adaptation.

A component that is significant for the adaptation process, from the point of view of a number of researchers, is instincts. An individual's instinctive behavior can be characterized as behavior based on the natural needs of the body. They allow the individual to adapt to the environment for survival and preservation of his own inner “I”. There are needs, on the contrary, that lead to maladaptation. The adaptability or maladaptation of a need depends on personal values ​​and the object and goal.

Maladaptive personality, according to A. A. Nalchadzhyan, is expressed in its inability to adapt to its own needs and aspirations. A maladjusted personality cannot respond to the demands made by society, and is also incapable of fulfilling its social role. A person’s experience of long-term internal and external conflicts is considered to be the main signs of emerging maladaptation; the trigger for maladjustment is not the presence of conflicts, but the fact that the situation becomes problematic for the individual.

Refer to the level of maladaptation, starting from which the personality begins his adaptive activity. This is necessary in order to better understand the features and specifics of the adaptive process. Adaptive activity, according to A. A. Nalchadzhyan, is of two types: situational with the elimination or transformation of the situation, aimed at solving problems in an active way, which allows it to be called “active-activity”; situational with preservation of the situation, aimed at adapting the individual to the situation. Due to the nature of this situation, it can be called passive, since the result is not an active transformation of the environment, but adaptation to it. Adaptive behavior of different types is distinguished by either successful decision-making, manifestation of initiative and a clear vision of one’s future, which will manifest itself in active adaptation; or the absence of any decisions if the person adapts to the world around him.

The acquisition by an individual of knowledge, skills, competence and mastery are signs of effective adaptation; the establishment of personal, emotionally rich connections with the desired person is a sign of effective adaptation in the sphere of personal relationships; maximum comfort of the student in the educational space, regardless of his level of performance, is a sign of effective adaptation of the individual in the field of education.

So, the mechanisms of personality adaptation affect different levels of the personality structure: at the physiological level - instincts and the level of physiological capabilities of the individual, at the psychological level - this is the building of a psychological defense system for maximum preservation of one’s own “I”, at the socio-psychological level - this is the development of a complex of properties and qualities that contribute to successful socialization and psychological adaptation.

There are two types of adaptations to external factors. The first is the formation of a certain degree of resistance to a given factor, the ability to maintain functions when the strength of its action changes. This is an adaptation according to the type of tolerance (endurance) - a passive way of adaptation. The second type of device is active. With the help of special specific adaptive mechanisms, the human body compensates for changes in the influencing factor in such a way that the internal environment remains relatively constant. Adaptation occurs according to the resistant (resistance, opposition) type.

In addition to the specificity of the factor (influence on certain processes in the body), depending on its physicochemical nature, the nature of the effect on the body and the reaction to it on the part of the human body are largely determined by the intensity of the factor, its<<дозировкой>>. The quantitative influence of environmental conditions is determined by the fact that such factors as air temperature,

the presence of oxygen and other vital elements in it, in one dose or another, are necessary for the normal functioning of the body, while a deficiency or excess of the same factor inhibits vital activity. The quantitative expression of a factor that corresponds to the needs of the organism and provides the most favorable conditions for its life is considered as optimal.

Specific adaptive mechanisms inherent in humans give him the ability to tolerate a certain range of factor deviations from optimal values ​​without disrupting the normal functions of the body (Fig. 2.1). The range between these two values ​​is called tolerance limits (tolerance limits).

Rice. 2.1. The basic diagram is

environmental factors on

vital activity of the body:

1 - degree of favorable factors for the body; 2 - energy consumption for adaptation

QUANTITATIVE EXPRESSION OF A FACTOR

ity), and the curve characterizing the dependence of tolerance on the value of the factor is called the tolerance curve.

Zones of quantitative expression of the deviating factor

from the optimum, but not disrupting life activity, defining

are defined as normal zones. There are two such zones, corresponding to the deviation from the optimum towards a lack of factor dosage and towards its excess. A further shift towards a deficiency or excess of a factor can reduce the effectiveness of adaptive mechanisms and even disrupt the vital functions of the body. In case of extreme deficiency or excess of a factor, leading to pathological changes in the body, zones of pessimum are identified (to cause harm, to suffer harm). Finally, outside these zones, the quantitative expression of the factor is such that the full tension of all adaptive systems turns out to be ineffective. These extreme values ​​lead to death; beyond these values, life is impossible.

Adaptation to any factor is associated with the expenditure of energy. In the zone

at the optimum, adaptive mechanisms are not needed and energy is consumed

only on fundamental life processes, the body on

walks in balance with the environment. When the factor value goes beyond the optimum, adaptive mechanisms are activated, requiring more energy expenditure the further the factor value deviates from the optimal value. Violation of the body's energy balance, along with the damaging effect of a deficiency or excess of a factor, limits the range of factors tolerated by a person.

changes.

If external conditions for a sufficiently long time

If the values ​​remain more or less constant, or change within a certain range around some average value, then the vital activity of the organism stabilizes at a level adaptive in relation to this average, typical state of the environment. A change in average conditions in time or space entails a transition to another level of stabilization (seasonal, temperature! adaptation, etc.).

2 ]

G. Selye, who approached the problem of adaptation from a new perspective, called the factors whose influence leads to adaptation stress factors. Another name for them is extreme factors, i.e. unusual environmental factors that have an adverse effect on the general condition, well-being, health and performance of a person. Moreover, this can have not only individual effects on the body, but also changed living conditions as a whole (for example, a person moving from the south to the Far North). He also established four stages of phase

1. Urgent, including stress. The term “Stress” (tension) refers to nonspecific psychophysiological manifestations of adaptive activity under the influence of any factors that are significant for the body. Examples of manifestations of urgent adaptation are: a passive increase in heat production in response to cold, an increase in pulmonary ventilation and minute volume of blood circulation in response to a lack of oxygen.

2. Formation of long-term adaptation - a transitional phase to sustainable adaptation. It is characterized by the formation of functional systems that provide management of adaptation to new conditions that have arisen.

3. formed long-term adaptation, or the phase of stable adaptation, resistance, when the self-regulation systems of gameostasis function at a new level. The main conditions for long-term adaptation are consistency and continuity of exposure to extreme factors. Essentially, it develops on the basis of repeated implementation of urgent adaptation and is characterized by the fact that as a result of constant quantitative accumulation of changes, the organism acquires a new quality - from unadapted it turns into adapted. This is adaptation to previously unattainable intense physical work (training), development of resistance to cold, heat

4. Exhaustion, which can develop as a result of strong and prolonged exposure to extreme factors. If stress is severe and prolonged, such exposure can lead to illness or death.

The complex of adaptive reactions of the human body that ensures its existence in extreme conditions is called the norm of adaptive reaction. The process of individual adaptation is ensured by the formation of changes in the body, which are often in the nature of prepathological or even pathological reactions. These changes, as a consequence of general stress or tension of individual physiological systems, represent a peculiar<<цену адаптации>>. For example, the process of adaptation to the conditions of the Far North can last decades. Wherein

Temporary failures of adaptation are possible - increased incidence of respiratory diseases, peptic ulcers and cardiovascular diseases.

If the levels of exposure to environmental factors are

extend beyond the adaptive capabilities of the body, and adapt

ation moves into the fourth stage - the stage of exhaustion, including

Additional protective mechanisms are expected. These are compensation mechanisms that counteract the emergence and progression of

the pathological process, i.e. the body’s response to changes in the environment, depending on the degree of these changes, are qualitatively different and range from physiologically

optimal to pathological.

Thus, if adaptation provides homeostasis under conditions

In health, then compensation is the body’s struggle for homeostasis in changed conditions - conditions of disease. If the impact of environmental factors on an organism quantitatively exceeds the level of the organism’s adaptation norm, then it loses the ability to further adapt to the environment, since the possibility of restructuring the structural connections of the system has been exhausted.

In natural living conditions, the human body is always influenced by a complex set of factors, each of which is expressed to varying degrees relative to its optimal value. In nature, the combination of all factors in their optimal values ​​is an almost impossible phenomenon. This means that under natural conditions the body always spends some part of its energy on the work of adaptive mechanisms. It is also important that with a complex effect, special relationships are established between individual factors, in which the action of one factor to some extent changes (strengthens, weakens, etc.) the nature of the impact of the other. For example, training for physical activity causes resistance to hypoxia (oxygen starvation), and vice versa, training for hypoxia creates resistance to large muscle loads.

Not only the qualitative criterion of the factor is important, but also the mode of influence of this factor on the body. The body's response increases significantly if the factor acts not in the form of a continuous signal, but discretely, that is, at certain intervals. This intermittent nature of exposure is widely used in practice in developing adaptation to cold, hypoxia, physical

2.3. General measures to increase the body's resistance

Managing adaptation, helping to increase the endurance of your body - this is the goal that people should set for themselves. The most important condition for maintaining a stable gameostasis of the body, and, consequently, the mechanism of adaptation processes

processes - harmonization of human life with his environment. One of the necessary conditions for this is timely and rational nutrition. Inadequacy or excess of nutrition and imbalance of nutrients in the diet affect the activity of the body, reduce its resistance and, consequently, its ability to adapt. Favorable working and rest conditions, including sleep and wakefulness, rest and work, are also a necessary condition for the normal functioning of the body.

Physical activity plays a special role. It forms unequal control mechanisms, activates the interaction of the organism with the external environment, and promotes the development of the organism as a whole. Movement is an obligatory component of the work of all analyzers; it is necessary for obtaining information and developing the psyche. The peculiarities of motor activity make it a means of increasing metabolic fitness, fairly economical expenditure of energy at rest, the body’s ability to utilize oxygen most perfectly, and enhancing the functioning of enzymatic systems. Resistance as a result of physical activity is also due to increased coordination and finer regulation in the activity of the circulatory, respiratory systems, etc. All these mechanisms are largely nonspecific. Thanks to their presence, the formation of adaptive reactions in relation to a wide range of factors is facilitated.

The life of a modern person is very mobile, and under normal conditions his body continuously adapts to a whole complex of natural-climatic and social-production factors (Fig. 2.2).<<Цена адаптации» зависит от дозы воздейству­ ющего фактора и индивидуальных особенностей организма. Доза воздействия и переносимость зависят от наследственных - гене­ тических - особенностей организма, продолжительности и силы (интенсивности) воздействия фактора. Стресс из звена адаптации может при чрезмерно сильных воздействиях среды трансформиро­ ваться в развитие разнообразных заболеваний.

Development and application of methods and means of increasing unskilled

digital and specific stability of the organism, its adaptation

tational capabilities, as well as the development of methods and means,

increasing the body’s compensatory capabilities to act excessively, beyond the limits of adaptive capabilities,

levels and concentrations of damaging environmental factors, leading

det to improve the functioning of the body.

Control questions

1. Explain what homeostasis is?

2. Adaptation - good or bad?

3. Tell us about the periods of adaptation development.

4. What role does physical activity play in increasing endurance?

body's health?

Monitoring health and morbidity levels

Health and Workforce Management

Control

Environmental factors:

Control

environmental, climatic, industrial

environmental factors

Rice. 2.2. Adaptation to environmental conditions and human health management

SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF HYGIENIC STANDARDING OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS (HABITAT)

Related information.

The physiological meaning of the body’s adaptation to external and internal influences lies precisely in maintaining homeostasis and, accordingly, the viability of the body in almost any conditions to which it is able to adequately respond.

Types of adaptation: distinguished urgent And long-term adaptation.

Urgent adaptation is the body’s response to a single exposure to a training load, expressed in an “emergency” adaptation to the changed state of its internal environment. This answer comes down mainly to changes in energy metabolism and to the activation of higher nerve centers responsible for the regulation of energy metabolism. As for long-term adaptation, it is formed gradually on the basis of repeated implementation of urgent adaptation by summing up traces of repeated loads. In the course of adaptation processes, one can distinguish between a specific component and a general adaptation reaction. Processes of specific adaptation affect intracellular energy and plastic metabolism and related functions of vegetative maintenance, which specifically respond to a given type of influence in accordance with its strength.

The general adaptive reaction develops in response to a variety of stimuli (regardless of their nature) if the strength of these stimuli exceeds a certain threshold level. A general adaptation reaction is realized due to the stimulation of the sympatho-adrenocortical and pituitary-adrenocortical systems. As a result of their activation, the content of catecholamines and glucocorticoids in the blood and tissues increases, which contributes to the mobilization of the body’s energy and plastic reserves. This nonspecific reaction to irritation was called “stress syndrome,” and the stimuli that caused this reaction were called “stress factors.” The general adaptation syndrome in itself is not the basis for adaptation to training loads; it is only designed at the system level to ensure the occurrence of specific adaptation reactions, which form the body’s adaptation to specific types of load. Despite the different nature of specific adaptation processes, general patterns of their occurrence can be identified. The basis of specific adaptation is the processes of restoration of energy resources wasted during muscular work, destroyed cell structures, displaced water-electrolytic balance, etc.

V.N. Platonov (1997) distinguishes three stages of urgent adaptation reactions:

The first stage is associated with the activation of the activities of various components of the functional system that ensures the implementation of this work. This is expressed in a sharp increase in heart rate, level of ventilation, oxygen consumption, accumulation of lactate in the blood, etc.

The second stage occurs when the activity of a functional system occurs with stable characteristics of the main parameters of its support, in the so-called steady state.

The third stage is characterized by a violation of the established balance between demand and its satisfaction due to fatigue of the nerve centers that provide regulation of movements and depletion of the body's carbohydrate resources.

The formation of “long-term adaptive reactions” (author’s edition preserved) according to V.N. Platonov (1997) also occurs in stages: The first stage is associated with the systematic mobilization of the functional resources of the athlete’s body in the process of performing training programs of a certain focus in order to stimulate the mechanisms of long-term adaptation to based on the summation of the effects of repeated urgent adaptation. In the second stage, against the background of systematically increasing and systematically repeated loads, intensive structural and functional transformations occur in the organs and tissues of the corresponding functional system. At the end of this stage, the necessary hypertrophy of organs is observed, the coherence of the activities of various links and mechanisms ensuring the effective functioning of the functional system in new conditions. The third stage is distinguished by stable long-term adaptation, expressed in the presence of the necessary reserve to ensure a new level of functioning of the system, stability of functional structures, close interconnection regulatory and executive mechanisms. The fourth stage occurs with irrationally constructed, usually overly intense training, poor nutrition and recovery and is characterized by wear and tear of individual components of the functional system. 35-37. Stages of adaptation to muscle activity. The concept of the biological “price” of adaptation.

Adaptation of the body to different living conditions

The concept of adaptation – conditions of existence – technogenic conditions – forms of adaptation – phenotypic adaptation – short-term and long-term adaptation – social conditions of human adaptation

Adaptation (from lat. adaptatio- adapt, adapt) is a set of morphophysiological, behavioral, population and other characteristics of a species, providing the possibility of existence in certain environmental conditions.

The concept of "adaptation" includes:

– processes, with the help of which the body adapts to the environment;

– state of balance between the organism and the environment;

– implementation of the reaction norm under specific environmental conditions by changing the phenotype;

– the result of the evolutionary process– adaptationogenesis (selection and fixation of genes encoding information about developed changes).

The phenomenon of biological adaptation is inherent in all living organisms, and especially in such a highly organized one as human beings. The conditions for the existence of any living organism can be:

– adequate(those that currently allow the body to carry out all vital processes within the normal reaction limits);

– inadequate(those that do not correspond to the range of properties of the organism determined by the reaction norm).

In adequate conditions, the body experiences a state of comfort, i.e. optimal level of operation of all systems. In inadequate conditions, the body has to turn on additional mechanisms to ensure a state of stability (resistance) and activate all processes. This condition is called "tension". If, with the help of tension, the body has not reached a state of stability, then a state of “pre-disease” and then “disease” develops. States of comfort, tension and adaptation constitute a state of health (but not pathology); the state of adaptation is a normal physiological reaction.

Modern anthropogenic (technogenic) conditions include, as a rule, not one unfavorable factor, but a whole complex of factors to which the body must adapt. Therefore, the body’s response must be not only multicomponent, but also integrated. This integration is created by the interconnected and interdependent work of the regulatory, energetic and nonspecific components of adaptation and constitutes adaptation strategy.

Adaptation is based on a number of general patterns of reactions in the body. Depending on which systems are involved in creating the state of adaptation and the extent of this process, its two main forms are distinguished:

– evolutionary(or genotypic) adaptation; this process is the basis of evolution, since the existing complex of species hereditary characteristics becomes the starting point for changes introduced by environmental conditions and fixed at the genotype level; this process takes thousands and millions of years;

– phenotypic adaptation (arising during the individual development of the organism, as a result of which the organism acquires resistance to certain environmental factors).

Phenotypic adaptation is also determined by a genetic program, but not in the form of a preprogrammed adaptation, but in the form of a reaction norm, i.e. the range of metabolic processes, the potential for ensuring the body’s response to changes in environmental conditions. At the same time, turning such potential opportunities into real ones, i.e. ensuring the body's response to environmental demands is also impossible without activating the genetic apparatus (increasing the synthesis of nucleic acids, proteins and other compounds). This phenomenon is called structural trace of adaptation. At the same time, the mass of membrane structures responsible for signal perception, ion transport, and energy supply also increases. After the cessation of the environmental factor, the activity of the genetic apparatus decreases and the structural trace of adaptation disappears. This indicates that in ensuring the state of adaptation, the relationship between functions and the genetic apparatus is a key link. It must also be emphasized that metabolic changes aimed at ensuring a state of phenotypic adaptation constitute biochemical adaptation strategy, which is one of the main components of the overall adaptation strategy.

There are two forms of phenotypic adaptation: short-term (including immediate, urgent) and long-term (acclimatization).

Short-term (urgent) adaptation:

– occurs immediately after the action of a stimulus;

– is carried out due to ready-made, previously formed structures and physiological mechanisms. This means that: a) the body always has a certain amount of reserve structural elements, for example mitochondria, lysosomes, ribosomes; b) the work of cells and tissues can be carried out according to the type of duplication; c) there is a certain amount of ready-made substances: hormones, nucleic acids, proteins, ATP, enzymes, vitamins, etc.; this is the so-called structural adaptation reserve, which can provide immediate response. Due to the fact that this reserve is small, the body’s activity occurs at the limit of physiological capabilities.

For urgent adaptation:

– the leading factors are the activity of nonspecific components and the formation of a stereotypical response, regardless of the nature of the stimulus;

– acute adaptation syndrome develops (Hans Selye called it “stress”, which translated from English means “tension”) in this case:

The hypothalamic-pituitary system is activated;

The production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) increases;

The synthesis of glucocorticoids and adrenaline by the adrenal glands is enhanced;

The thymus and spleen shrink;

Energy and structural resources are mobilized;

The state of adaptation is achieved quickly, but it will be stable only if the factor has ceased to act; if the factor continues to operate, then adaptation turns out to be imperfect, since the reserves are exhausted and need to be replenished.

Urgent adaptation is manifested by generalized motor reactions or emotional behavior (for example, an animal's flight in response to pain; an increase in heat production in response to cold; an increase in heat loss in response to heat; an increase in pulmonary ventilation and minute volume in response to a lack of oxygen).

Long-term adaptation develops on the basis of the implementation of the stage of urgent adaptation, when the systems that respond to a given stimulus are activated, but do not provide a stable state, or if the stimulus continues to act.

For long-term adaptation:

– higher regulatory centers activate the hormonal system and specific adaptation components come into play;

– mobilization of the body’s energy and structural resources occurs; this is possible only with the activation of the genetic apparatus, which ensures enhanced biosynthesis of structures on the molecular (induction of the synthesis of hormones, enzymes, RNA, protein, etc.), organoid (biosynthesis and hyperplasia of cell organelles), cellular (increased cell reproduction), tissue and organ (increase in organ and tissue components) levels;

– the biochemical strategy of adaptation is carried out through the synthesis of necessary substances, coordination of their quantities and mutual transformations;

– the leading role in ensuring long-term adaptation is played by the central nervous system, hormonal system, and genetic apparatus;

– the resulting structural trace of adaptation (due to the biogenesis of structures) gradually disappears when the enhanced activity of the genetic apparatus ceases; the state of stability is achieved due to the existence of positive and negative feedback;

– the result of the adaptation process is the organism achieving a state of stability, which provides the organism with the opportunity to exist in new conditions.

If the intensity of the factor exceeds the adaptive capabilities of the organism and the state of stability does not occur, then the organism goes into a state of exhaustion (its structures, systems, functions are depleted); then follows the state of pre-illness and illness.

When discussing the issue of adaptation features in humans, it is necessary to emphasize that humans have both a biological and a social nature. Therefore, the mechanisms for achieving a state of adaptation in humans are more complex than in other species of living beings. On the one hand, a person, as a biological being, has all the adaptive processes determined by the norm of reaction and aimed at achieving the stability of the organism. At the same time, the human body, which in the process of evolution has achieved the highest specialization of its organs and systems, the highest level of development of the nervous system, is most capable of adapting to changing environmental conditions. At the same time, the social nature of man has created a number of features of adaptation processes that are unique to humans:

– the number of anthropogenic environmental factors has increased sharply in recent decades, while adaptation systems have been formed over millions of years in the absence of these factors or their significantly lower intensity and therefore are not effective enough in modern environmental conditions;

– a person is less connected with nature, less dependent on it; is subject to social rhythms, regulates its behavior with consciousness; sometimes deliberately chooses inappropriate behavior;

– a person has additional (social) adaptation mechanisms (clothing, shoes, housing, work organization, medicine, physical education, art, etc.);

– the second signaling system plays a leading role in human adaptation.