Eisenstein Edward M, Eisenstein Doris L, Sarma Jonnalagedda Sarma M, Knapp Herschel, Smith James C
Commun Integr Biol. 2012 May 1;5(3):233-9. doi: 10.4161/cib.19480.
This paper explores further the "behavioral homeostasis theory" (BHT) regarding the evolutionary significance for organism survival of the two simple non-associative rapidly learned behaviors of habituation and sensitization. The BHT postulates that the evolutionary function of habituation and sensitization throughout phylogeny is to rapidly maximize an organism's overall readiness to cope with new stimuli and to minimize unnecessary energy expenditure. These behaviors have survived with remarkable similarity throughout phylogeny from aneural protozoa to humans. The concept of "behavioral homeostasis" emphasizes that the homeostatic process is more than just maintaining internal equilibrium in the face of changing internal and external conditions. It emphasizes the rapid internal and external effector system changes that occur to optimize organism readiness to cope with any new external stimulus situation. Truly life-threatening stimuli elicit instinctive behavior such as fight, flee, or hide. If the stimulus is not life-threatening, the organism rapidly learns to adjust to an appropriate level of overall responsiveness over stimulus repetitions. The rapid asymptotic level approached by those who decrease their overall responsiveness to the second stimulus (habituaters) and those who increase their overall responsiveness to an identical second stimulus (sensitizers) not only optimizes readiness to cope with any new stimulus situation but also reduces unnecessary energy expenditure. This paper is based on a retrospective analysis of data from 4 effector system responses to eight repetitive tone stimuli in adult human males. The effector systems include the galvanic skin response, finger pulse volume, muscle frontalis and heart rate. The new information provides the basis for further exploration of the BHT including new predictions and proposed relatively simple experiments to test them.
本文进一步探讨了“行为稳态理论”（BHT），该理论涉及习惯化和敏感化这两种简单的非联想性快速学习行为对生物体生存的进化意义。BHT假定，在整个系统发育过程中，习惯化和敏感化的进化功能是迅速使生物体应对新刺激的整体准备状态最大化，并将不必要的能量消耗最小化。从无神经的原生动物到人类，这些行为在整个系统发育过程中都以惊人的相似性保留了下来。“行为稳态”的概念强调，稳态过程不仅仅是在面对不断变化的内部和外部条件时维持内部平衡。它强调了为优化生物体应对任何新的外部刺激情况的准备状态而发生的快速内部和外部效应系统变化。真正危及生命的刺激会引发诸如战斗、逃跑或躲藏等本能行为。如果刺激不危及生命，生物体通过刺激重复迅速学会调整到适当的整体反应水平。那些对第二个刺激降低整体反应性的人（习惯化者）和那些对相同的第二个刺激增加整体反应性的人（敏感化者）所接近的快速渐近水平不仅优化了应对任何新刺激情况的准备状态而且还减少了不必要的能量消耗。本文基于对成年男性对八个重复音调刺激的四种效应系统反应数据的回顾性分析。效应系统包括皮肤电反应、手指脉搏容积、额肌和心率。这些新信息为进一步探索BHT提供了基础，包括新的预测以及为检验这些预测而提出的相对简单的实验。
