Human Adaptation Map
Six concepts connected by a continuing story of demands, adjustment and recovery.
Updated 2026-09-14 · Archived
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Reading the map
Life creates demands (load). The body adjusts (allostasis). Responses may resolve through recovery, while repeated or sustained adaptation may bring accumulating physiological costs (allostatic load). Reserve concerns the capacity available for further demands; resilience concerns what happens when a disturbance arrives.
The arrows connect ideas for explanation. They do not describe obligatory stages or validated causal pathways. Recovery and accumulating costs can coexist. Reserve can also influence the response and recovery. This synthesis draws on allostasis, allostatic load and physical resilience research [1–3].
Scope & attribution
This is an educational synthesis by The Allostasis Project, not a diagnostic model, personal score or newly established medical construct. The work identifier refers to this figure, not to ownership of the scientific concepts.
Downloads include a source label and version. The figure may be saved for personal reference; downloading does not grant a license to reproduce or adapt it. See Citation & Reuse for the permission policy.
Figure specification
tap-adaptation-map/1.0
References
- Peter Sterling (2012). Allostasis: a model of predictive regulation. Physiology & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.06.004
- Bruce S. McEwen, Eliot Stellar (1993). Stress and the individual. Mechanisms leading to disease. Archives of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1993.00410180039004
- Heather E. Whitson, Wei Duan-Porter, Kenneth E. Schmader, Miriam C. Morey, Harvey J. Cohen, Cathleen S. Colón-Emeric (2016). Physical Resilience in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Development of an Emerging Construct. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glv202
Publication record
TAP-FIG-0001 · v1.0 · English
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