32. Homeostasis and Endocrine Signaling Flashcards
anatomy
structure of an organism
physiology
processes and functions of an organism
epithelial tissue
sheets of tightly packed cells that line organs and body cavities as well as external surfaces; also called epithelium
nervous tissue
tissue made up of neurons and supportive cells
neuron
a nerve cell; the fundamental unit of the nervous system, having structure and properties that allow it to conduct signals by taking advantage of the electrical charge across its plasma membrane
glia (glial cells)
cells of the nervous system that support, regulate, and augment the functions of neurons
muscle tissue
tissue consisting of long muscle cells that can contract, either on its own or when stimulated by nerve impulses
skeletal muscle
a type of striated muscle that is generally responsible for the voluntary movements of the body
smooth muscle
a type of muscle lacking the striations of skeletal and cardiac muscle because of the uniform distribution of myosin filaments in the cells; responsible for involuntary body activities
cardiac muscle
type of striated muscle that forms the contractile wall of the heart. Its cells are joined by intercalated disks that relay the electrical signals underlying each heartbeat
connective tissue
animal tissue that functions mainly to bind and support other tissues, having a sparse population of cells scattered through an extracellular matrix
macrophage
a phagocytic cell present in many tissues that functions in innate immunity by destroying microbes and in acquired immunity as an antigen-presenting cell.
regulator
animal for which mechanisms of homeostasis moderate internal changes in a particular variable in the face of external fluctuation of that variable
conformer
animal for which an internal condition conforms to (changes in accordance with) changes in an environmental variable
interstitial fluid
fluid filling the spaces between cells in most animals
homeostasis
steady-state physiological condition of the body
set point
in homeostasis in animals, a value maintained for a particular variable, such as body temperature or solute concentration
stimulus
in feedback regulation, a fluctuation in a variable that triggers a response
sensor
in homeostasis, a receptor that detects a stimulus
response
(1) In cellular communication, the change in a specific cellular activity brought about by a transduced signal from outside the cell. (2) In feedback regulation, a physiological activity triggered by a change in a variable.
