Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events occurring during childhood, including abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction, which can profoundly impact a person’s physical, emotional, and social well-being. These experiences often lead to increased risks of mental health issues, substance abuse, chronic conditions, and challenges in forming healthy relationships later in life.

(Pronounced af-ekt) The outward expression of feelings and emotion (a tone of voice, smile, laugh, frown, tear, eye gaze). Any experience of feeling or emotion, ranging from suffering to elation, from the simplest to the most complex sensations of feeling, and from the most normal to the most pathological emotional reactions. Often described in terms of positive affect or negative affect, both mood and emotion are considered affective states. Along with cognition and volition, affect is one of the three traditionally identified components of the mind (APA Dictionary).

Affective processes encompass the range of emotional responses, moods, and feelings that influence perception, cognition, and behavior. These processes shape how individuals experience and respond to various situations and stimuli, playing a crucial role in guiding reactions, decision-making, and overall well-being.

Affective systems refer to the integrated neural, biochemical, and psychological mechanisms responsible for the generation, regulation, and experience of emotions, moods, and feelings. These systems encompass brain circuits, neurotransmitter pathways, and hormonal processes that collectively shape  emotional responses to stimuli, influence motivation, and guide behavior. 

Afferent or sensory nerve fibers carry signals from various body parts (e.g., the eye, skin, joints, muscles, and visceral organs) toward the central nervous system (Breit et al., 2018).

Afferent signaling refers to transmitting sensory information from the body’s organs (such as the gut, heart, and liver) to the brain and spinal cord. This type of signaling is also known as sensory signaling, as it allows the nervous system to detect and respond to environmental changes.

An afferent system consists of neurons and neurotransmitters that transmit signals from various body parts (e.g., eyes, skin, joints, muscles, and visceral organs) to the CNS to cause an effect or action (Breit et al., 2018).

Afferent vagus nerves are the sensory neurons that carry information from various parts of the body organs (such as the gut) and transmit it to the brain (CNS) to cause some effect or action. It is responsible for relaying information about the state of the gut, including signals related to the presence of food, digestive activity, and change in the gut microbiota, to the brain, where they can influence the regulation of various physiological processes, such as heart rate, digestion, and immune function (Mikami et al., 2022).

As introduced in the DSPR, alliesthesia is the concept that any stimulus capable of supporting our homeostasis will be perceived as pleasant, while any stimulus that threatens or alters homeostasis will be perceived as unpleasant (Segen’s Medical Dictionary). It is a phenomenon involving the increased reward value of a stimulus based on its potential to move the body’s physiological state toward homeostasis (Simmons & Deville, 2017).

The process by which the body responds to stressors in order to regain homeostasis.