Chapter 1 Flashcards
The study of the structure of the body.
Anatomy
The study of function; deals with the ways organisms perform vital activities.
Physiology
The study of embryonic development, focusing on the first 2 months after fertilization.
Embryology
The study of cells.
Cytology
The study of tissues.
Histology
Changes in activity that maintain homeostasis in direct response to changes in the local environment; does not require neural or endocrine control.
Autoregulation
Results from the activities of the nervous system or endocrine system.
Extrinsic Regulation
A sensor that is sensitive to a particular environmental change.
Receptor
Receives and processes the information supplied by the receptor and sends out commands.
Control Center
A cell or organ that responds to the commands of the control center and whose activity either opposes or enhances the stimulus.
Effector
A corrective mechanism that opposes or negates a variation from normal limits.
Negative Feedback
A mechanism that increases a deviation from normal limits after an initial stimulus.
Positive Feedback
Lying face up, with palms facing anteriorly.
Supine
Lying face down with the palms facing the floor.
Prone
A sectional plane that divides the body into an anterior portion and a posterior portion; also called coronal plane.
Frontal Plane
A sectional plane that divides the body into left and right portions.
Sagittal Plane
Any muscular partition; the respiratory muscle that separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominopelvic cavity.
Diaphragm
Division of the ventral body cavity that is superior to the abdominopelvic cavity that is bounded by the chest wall.
Thoracic Cavity
The portion of the ventral body cavity that contains abdominal and pelvic subdivisions; also contains the peritoneal cavity.
Abdominopelvic Cavity
Organs in the ventral body cavity.
Viscera
Subdivisions of the thoracic cavity that contain the lungs.
Pleural Cavities
The central tissue mass that divides the thoracic cavity into two pleural cavities.
Mediastinum
The space between the parietal pericardium and the epicardium (visceral pericardium) that covers the outer surface of the heart.
Pericardial Cavity
The inferior subdivision of the abdominopelvic cavity; encloses the urinary bladder, the sigmoid colon and rectum, and male or female reproductive organs.
Pelvic Cavity
The maintenance of a relatively constant internal environment.
Homeostasis
Exists when opposing processes or forces are in balance.
State of Equilibrium
Lies at right angles to the long axis of the body, dividing it into superior and inferior portions.
Transverse
An axis; three are needed to describe any three-dimensional object.
Plane
