S. E. Pavlov (2000, 2010)

1. Adaptation is a continuous process which can only be stopped because of the death of the organism.

2. Any living organism exists in a four-dimensional space and consequently, the processes of its adaptation cannot be described in linear.

3. In the basis of the process of adaptation of a highly organized organism always there is formation of an absolutely specific functional system (to be precise – functional system of a concrete behavioral act), adaptive modifications in which components serve as one of the compulsory «instruments» of its formation.

4. System-constituent factors of any functional system are final and intermediate results of its «activity» which always determine the necessity of a multi-parametric evaluation not only of the final result of the work of the system but also of the characteristics of «duty cycle» of any functional system and determine its absolute specificity.

5. Systematic responses of the organism upon a complex of simultaneous and/or consecutive environmental impacts are always specific and a non-specific unit of adaptation, being an inseparable component of any functional system, also determines specifics of its reaction.

6. It is possible and necessary to speak about simultaneously affecting dominating and depending on the situation afferent influence, but we should understand that the organism always reacts to the complex of environmental influences by formation of a sole specific to the particular complex functional system.

7. Functional system is extremely specific and in the limits of this specificity it is relatively labile only on the stage of its formation.

8. Any functional system, independently on its complicacy, can only be formed on the basis of «preceding» physiological (structure - functional) mechanisms (subsystems – according to P. K. Anokhin, 1956, 1968, 1975 and others) which, depending on the «requirements» of a concrete integrated system, can be involved or not involved in it in the form of its components.

9. Complexity and extension of the «duty cycle» of functional systems have no limits in time and in space.

10. A compulsory condition of a qualitative formation of any functional system is permanency or periodicity of action (during the whole of the period of formation of the system) upon the organism of standard invariable complex of environmental factors, «providing» for equally standard afferent constituent part of the system.

11. One more compulsory condition of formation of any functional systems is participation in the process of the memory mechanisms.

12. Adaptation process, in spite of the fact that it goes on according to general laws, is always individual, because it exists in direct dependence on the genotype of this or that individual and is realized in the limits of this genotype and in accordance with former vital activity of given phenotype organism.