# Preconditioning (adaptation)

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For other uses, see [Preconditioning (disambiguation)](/source/Preconditioning_(disambiguation)).

This article appears to be a dictionary definition. Please help expand it to present the subject encyclopedically. (January 2014)

**Preconditioning** occurs when an animal is exposed to a [stressor](/source/Stressor) or [stimulus](/source/Stimulus_(psychology)) in order to prepare it for a later encounter with a similar stressor or stimulus.[1]

For example, in [vaccinations](/source/Vaccination), a human is exposed to an artificially weakened [virus](/source/Virus) in order to stimulate the body's [immune system](/source/Immune_system) to produce [antibodies](/source/Antibodies) that fight the virus. Then, when the live virus is encountered, the body can vigorously defend against it, already having produced the relevant antibodies. See [pre-exposure prophylaxis](/source/Pre-exposure_prophylaxis).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Holmes, Nathan M.; Wong, Francesca S.; Bouchekioua, Youcef; Westbrook, R. Fred (January 2022). ["Not "either-or" but "which-when": A review of the evidence for integration in sensory preconditioning"](https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0149763421004747). *Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews*. **132**: 1197–1204. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.10.032](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.neubiorev.2021.10.032). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [34718047](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34718047).

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