B5 Homeostasis Flashcards
What is homeostasis?
Regulation of conditions inside the body to maintain a stable internal environment, in response to both internal and external conditions
What 4 internal features are maintained by homeostasis?
Temperature
Water
Glucose
pH
Why is a constant intenal environment important?
So that cells are able to function normally and effectively in any conditions
Why is it important to have a constant glucose level?
Too much glucose can cause diabetes
Too little glucose can cause sweating or trembeling
Why is it important to have a constant water level?
Too much water can cause cells to burst
Too little water may mean they can not function correctly
Why is it important to have a constant body temperature?
High temperature increases kinetic energy of enzymes so they react faster
Low temperature may denature enzymes
What two automatic control systems are involved in homeostasis?
Nervous System
Endocrine System
What are receptors?
They sense external change
What do coordination centres do?
They decide what to do, depending on signals they recieve
Name 3 coordination centres
Brain
Spinal Cord
Pancreas
What are the two types of effectors?
Muscles
Glands
What is the order of compounds in a control centre?
Stimulus Receptor Coordinator Effector Response
What does homeostasis maintain optimum conditions for?
Enzyme Action
Cell Structure
Chemical Reactions
What is a negative feedback loop?
A continuous cycle of events that respond when conditions change away from a set point and causes it to return to a set point
What is the use of the nervous system?
It allows humans to react to their surroundings
What is the CNS?
Central Nervous System - It works as a coordination centre
What does the CNS consist on in vertebrates?
The Brain and Spinal Cord
What are sensory neurones?
Neurnones that carry information as electrical impulses from the receptors to the CNS
Where are receptors located?
In and on organs
What are motor neurones?
Neurones that carry electrical impulses from the CNS to effectors
What are effectors?
Muscles or glands that carry out a response to a nervous impulse
What is a receptor?
Cells that detect a stimuli
What is a synapse?
The connection between two neurones
How does a signal travel across a synapse?
It is transfered into chemicals and diffuses across the gap before setting of a new electrical signal in the next cell