habituation

noun

Etymology: From Middle English habituacioun, from Medieval Latin habituātio.

1. The act of habituating, or accustoming; the state of being habituated.

   “Custome can give a Iurisdiction; neither is there any stronger law than it: The continued use then of any known sinne, be it never so small, gives (as Gersons phrase is) a strong habituation ; and, though it be a true rule, that habits do only incline, not compell; yet the inclination that is wrought by them, is so forceable, that it differs little from violent:”

   “Long habituation to one kind of life and situation, hath given rise to peculiarities, which to many minds seem unaccountable, yet in reality are perfectly reconcilable to the laws of nature.”

2. The process of becoming accustomed to an internal or external stimulus, such as a noxious smell or loud noise.

   “Habituation and dishabituation allow for experience-dependent tuning of these reflexes and the mechanisms underlying these forms of behavioral plasticity involve changes in transmitter release from the sensory to motor neuron synapses through homosynaptic depression and the serotonin-mediated recovery from depression, respectively.”