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Nervous System Setpoint

Meaning

The Nervous System Setpoint is the baseline level of physiological and psychological arousal that an individual’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) tends to maintain when in a state of rest and absent of acute, immediate stressors. This setpoint is a functional measure of the long-term balance between the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) branches of the ANS. A chronically elevated setpoint signifies a state of high allostatic load and is detrimental to hormonal homeostasis, requiring deliberate intervention to facilitate a healthy recalibration.