2015/12/31 by A. N. Gorban, Alexander N. Gorban, T. A. Tyukina +6 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Ecosystem dynamics and resilience #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #q-bio.PE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.12.017
published as Journal of Theoretical Biology Volume 405, 21 September 2016, Pages 127-139
openalex publication_date 2016/01/19 · crossref created 2016/01/19 · arxiv created 2016/03/17 · arxiv updated 2016/09/01 · crossref issued 2016/09/01 · crossref published 2016/09/01 · crossref published-print 2016/09/01 · crossref deposited 2019/09/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/06/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
In 1938, H. Selye proposed the notion of adaptation energy and published "Experimental evidence supporting the conception of adaptation energy". Adaptation of an animal to different factors appears as the spending of one resource. Adaptation energy is a hypothetical extensive quantity spent for adaptation. This term causes much debate when one takes it literally, as a physical quantity, i.e. a sort of energy. The controversial points of view impede the systematic use of the notion of adaptation energy despite experimental evidence. Nevertheless, the response to many harmful factors often has general non-specific form and we suggest that the mechanisms of physiological adaptation admit a very general and nonspecific description. We aim to demonstrate that Selye's adaptation energy is the cornerstone of the top-down approach to modelling of non-specific adaptation processes. We analyse Selye's axioms of adaptation energy together with Goldstone's modifications and propose a series of models for interpretation of these axioms. \em Adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the `dominant path' in the model of adaptation. The phenomena of `oscillating death' and `oscillating remission' are predicted on the base of the dynamical models of adaptation. Natural selection plays a key role in the evolution of mechanisms of physiological adaptation. We use the fitness optimization approach to study of the distribution of resources for neutralization of harmful factors, during adaptation to a multifactor environment, and analyse the optimal strategies for different systems of factors.