Cell psychology: a conceptual reinterpretation of cellular stress responses through cognitive and psychological analogies
MEDICAL HYPOTHESES, cilt.209, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 209
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.mehy.2026.111923
- Dergi Adı: MEDICAL HYPOTHESES
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, CINAHL, EMBASE
- İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır
Özet
This hypothesis proposes that cells, much like psychological entities, display adaptive, emotion-like responses and decision-oriented behavioral patterns when confronted with internal or external stressors. Termed "cell psychology", this framework suggests that biological stress, genomic instability, and environmental fluctuations elicit cellular reactions analogous to psychological states such as anxiety, fatigue, exhaustion, and selfpreservation. Under adverse conditions, cells may adopt altruistic strategies-most notably apoptosis-to maintain tissue integrity, or shift toward narcissistic, competitive behaviors such as uncontrolled proliferation, immune evasion, and tumorigenesis. Mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, lysosomal impairment, and stress-induced epigenetic alterations represent molecular parallels of emotional collapse, maladaptation, and aging, reflecting a progressive loss of resilience and homeostatic regulation. Interpreting cellular behavior through a psychological lens offers a novel integrative perspective linking molecular biology, neuropsychology, systems biology, and artificial intelligence. Parallels between cellular decision-making networks and cognitive processes-including information processing, memory formation, pattern recognition, and threshold evaluation-indicate that core principles of adaptation may operate across multiple biological scales. Cells detect signals, integrate competing inputs, and generate context-dependent outcomes, resembling primitive forms of cognitive computation. Within this conceptual framework, "cell psychology" provides a bottom-up model for understanding cooperation, communication failure, pathological deviation, and multicellular organization. Reframing cellular responses as rudimentary expressions of choice, memory, and strategic adaptation offers new avenues for interpreting aging, cancer progression, regenerative capacity, and emergent biological order. Ultimately, this hypothesis raises the possibility that foundational elements of cognition, resilience, and behavioral complexity may originate from the adaptive, information-processing capacities intrinsic to individual cells.