The Nervous System Adaptation Model (NSAM): A Systems Neuroscience Framework for Understanding Neurodivergent Regulation Patterns

Autism and related neurodivergent conditions are commonly framed as brain-baseddisorders, defined by behavioral symptoms, cognitive traits, or genetic anomalies. TheNervous System Adaptation Model (NSAM) challenges this framing by identifyingautonomic-cortical mismatch as the primary site of dysfunction. In this model, earlyautonomic disruption leads to persistent dysregulation between body and brain, withautism representing one manifestation of this broader physiological adaptation process.The cortex compensates for functionally asynchronous signaling between thehypothalamus and cortical systems by forming behavioral strategies that, over time, arereinforced into preference, personality, and identity. Rather than viewing behaviors likestimming, masking, or attraction patterns as symptoms, NSAM reframes them asregulatory solutions: attempts by the system to self-stabilize under nervous systemmismatch.Identity emerges not as a static trait, but as the downstream outcome of reinforcedautonomic regulation patterns. This framework extends beyond developmentalneurodivergence to acquired conditions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), where similarautonomic-cortical coordination failures generate comparable behavioral and emotionaladaptations.By shifting focus from behavioral traits to underlying regulation patterns, NSAM offers aphysiological lens for understanding neurodivergent presentations—one that centerscoherence over symptom conformity. The implications span DSM classification, clinicalintervention, and societal conceptualization of neurodivergence itself.Keywords: autism, autonomic nervous system, theoretical framework, neurodevelopment,systems neuroscience.