Electrophysiological Mechanisms of Adaptation Processes

Abstract

A systemic analysis of the relationships between electrophysiological parameters of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems during adaptation processes has been performed in order to study some electrophysiological mechanisms of stress. Studies were performed in subjects with various circulatory disorders and in healthy subjects at rest and during exercise; in skilled and apprentice workers at an electronics plant; and in students under examination stress. It is demonstrated that determining the set of parameters of the integrated cardiac–respiratory–hemodynamic system is necessary but not sufficient for diagnosing stress and its individual stages. The main characteristic is the degree of harmony in the ratios between these parameters, i.e., the balance of relationships between subsystems; the ratios thereby serve as new diagnostic signs of the functional state of the body. A resonance–wave model of stress is proposed. This model forms a basis for the assessment of stress during its development, with the stages of strain and overstrain being regarded as stages of the positive dynamics of adaptation syndrome provided that self-regulation is preserved during the progress of these stages, i.e., resonance is formed. In the case of disharmonic ratios between electrophysiological parameters and imbalance of their relationships, the stages of adaptation processes differ in the degree of deviation from invariant ratios between parameters.