Homeostasis Flashcards
Maintenance of relatively stable internal conditions
Homeostasis
“homeo” means
same
Regulates and maintains balance through hormonal signals
endocrine system
“stasis” means
standard scale
Responsible for analyzing and
responding to information.
Nervous system (brain)
→ A disturbance in homeostasis results
in disease
→ Maintaining balance is vital for
normal physiological functions.
→ Disruptions can lead to conditions
like diabetes, where blood sugar levels are not properly regulated, or affect heart rate and blood pressure.
Homeostatic imbalance
receptors send information to control center using what kind of pathway
afferent pathway
→ Sensory neurons in the body that
detect or responds to changes in the
environment (stimuli)
Receptor
→ Determines set point
→ Analyzes the information
→ Usually the brain, which processes
the information received and determines on the appropriate response to the stimulus
Control center
Provides a means of response to the
stimulus
effector
Includes most homeostatic control
mechanisms
→ Shuts off the original stimulus or reduces its intensity
→ This is the body’s way of reducing the intensity of a stimulus to restore balance. It works like a thermostat in a household.
Negative feedback
information flows from control center to effector along what kind of pathway
efferent pathway
This produces change in variable
Stimulus
→ Rare in the human body
→ Increases the original stimulus to
push the variable farther
→ Reaction occurs at a fasterr ate
Positive feedback
Homogenous mixture of two or more components
Solution
Dissolving medium present in the larger quantity; the body’s main solvent is water
Solvent
Solution inside the plasma membrane
Nucleoplasm and cytosol
→ Solution containing gases, nutrients
and salts dissolved in water
intracellular fluid
components in smaller quantities within a solution
solutes