STRESS-RESPONSE CURVE
An idealized inverted U-shaped curve illustrating the Yerkes-Dodson principle (Yerkes and Dodson 1908), representing the behavioral consequences (vertical ordinate, y-axis) to stressors of increasing intensity (horizontal abcissa, x-axis). This sometimes counter-intuitive non-linear relationship is often observed across a spectrum of stressor and stress responses and complicates interpretation of stress biomarkers, potentially misleading protocols for intervention. This concept has been relevant in various disciplines and thus is known by different terms (stress-response curve, adaptive response, hormesis), despite efforts to reconcile troubling semantic differences (Calabrese 2008).
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