Homeostasis and Response Flashcards
What is homeostasis?
The regulation of the internal conditions of a cell or organism to maintain optimum conditions for function in response to internal and external changes
What are things which require homeostatic processes in the human body?
- Body temperature
- Blood water concentration
- Blood glucose levels
What type of processes are homeostatic processes?
Automatic (not under conscious control)
What do homeostatic processes in humans result from?
Hormonal/endocrine and nervous control systems
Why is it important we maintain body temperature?
To maintain enzyme reactions
Why is it important we maintain blood water concentration?
to prevent osmotic damage to cells and tissues
Why is it important we maintain blood glucose levels?
To provide substrates for respiration
What does the nervous system do?
Allows rapid communication around the body via nerve impulses travelling through nerve cells/neurons.
What are reflexes?
Automatic responses to changes in the internal and external environment that are designed to keep us safe
What nervous systems do reflexes require?
- central
- peripheral
What is the central nervous system made up of?
- brain
- spinal chord
What is the peripheral nervous system made up of?
sensory and motor systems that extend out the central nervous system
What do reflexes rely on?
A receptor detecting a stimulus
What is a stimulus?
A change in the environment
What is the similar pattern which all responses undergo?
Stimulus - receptor - co-ordinator - effector - response
What is a receptor?
The organ or cell that detects the stimulus
What is a co-ordinator?
the brain or the spinal chord
What is an effector?
The tissue/organ that carries out a response
What is a response?
How the body responds to the stimulus, e.g. muscles move and glands secrete hormones
What is a synapse?
A synapse is a gap between nerve cells where the electrical signal is converted to a chemical signal that diffuses across the synapse,initiating the electrical impulse in the next neurone
What enable us to survive without conscious control as a baby?
Innate reflexes
Describe the reflex arc in chronological order:
- stimulus
- receptor
- sensory neurone
- synapse
- relay neurone
- synapse
- motor neurone
- effector
What is the brain made of?
millions of interconnected neurons
What is present at each connection in the brain?
Can be thousands of different neurons which gives an almost infinite number of neural pathways
What are the three main regions of the brain?
- cerebral cortex (covers cerebrum)
- cerebellum
- medulla
What is special about the arrangement of the cerebrum?
it is highly folded to increase surface area
What is the cerebrum involved in?
- consciousness
- intelligence
- memory
- language
What does the cerebellum do?
- coordinates voluntary muscle activity
What does the medulla do?
- coordinates involuntary muscle activity e.g. heart rate, breathing
Why is our knowledge of the brain very limited?
Since the brain has a delicate and complex nature
What was the historical way in which information on the brain was gathered?
Seeing the effects that brain injuries had on the body
What has been used to establish the effect and response of different regions of the brain?
Electrical stimulation applied to the different parts of the brain during surgery
What is the most recent technology used in gathering information on the brain?
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
What type of investigation is MRI and what does this mean?
Non-invasive
- reduce the risk of accidental injury and infection
What does MRI use to produce images of the brain?
Magnetic fields and radiowaves
What is the risk of brain surgery?
Infection or a stroke
What is an alternative to brain surgery? WHat does this involve?
gene therapy which uses stem cells to treat brain injury
What can be done to the brain to treat Parkinson’s disease?
Electrical stimulation of the brain can help reduce muscle tremors caused by CNS disorders like Parkinson’s disease
What do MRI scans identify?
WHat areas of the brain are active when people are doing certain activities
What type of organ is the eye an example of?
A sense organ
What is a sense organ?
An organ that contains receptors
What is accomodation?
The process of changing the shape of the lens of the eye to focus on near or distant objects
What kind of receptors does the eye contain?
Those which are sensitive to light intensity and colour
Describe the process by which an eye focusses on a near object:
- the ciliary muscles contract
- the suspensory ligaments loosen
- the lens thickens(more curved) and refracts more light rays
Describe the process by which an eye focusses on a distant object:
- the ciliary muscles relax
- the suspensory ligaments tighten
- the lens becomes thinner and only slightly refracts light rays
What can damage the retina?
Very bright light
What is the sclera?
The tough, supporting wall/outer coat of the eye. It is white.
What is the cornea?
Transparent outer later found at the front of the eye. It refracts light into the eye.
What is the iris?
The coloured part of the eye. It contains muscles that allow it to control the diameter of the pupil and thus how much light enters the eye
What does the lens do?
Focus light onto the retina
What is the retina?
Tissue lining at the back of the eyeball which contains receptor cells sensitive to light and colour. Sends electrical impulses to the brain
What is the optic nerve?
Bundle of over a million nerve fibres that carries impulses from the receptors on the retina to the brain
What do ciliary muscles and suspensory ligaments do?
Control the shape of the lens
How does the eye adjust to bright light?
- reflex triggered that makes the pupil smaller
- circular muscles in the iris contract
- radial muscles relax
- reduces amount of light that can enter the eye
How does the eye adjust to dim light?
- reflex triggered that makes the pupil wider
- circular muscles in the iris relax
- radial muscles contract
- increases amount of light that can enter the eye
Why do older people often have to wear reading glasses?
- as you get older, your lens loses flexibility
- this means it can’t easily spring back to a round shape
- this means light can’t be focused well for near viewing
What is the medical term for long-sightedness?
hyperopia
What is the medical term for short-sightedness?
myopia
What causes hyperopia?
- when the lens is the wrong shape and doesn’t refract light enough
- or the eyeball is too short
- images of near objects are brought into focus behind the retina
What can be used to correct long-sightedness?
- glasses with a convex lens (curves outwards)
- lens refracts rays so they focus on the retina
What causes myopia?
- when the lens is the wrong shape and refracts too much light
- or the eyeball is too long
- images of distant objects are brought into focus in front of the retina
What can be used to correct short-sightedness?
- glasses with a concave lens (curved inwards)
- lens refracts rays so they focus on the retina
What are the alternatives to glasses to correct vision defects?
- contact lenses
- laser eye surgery
- replacement lens surgery
What is the difference between a hard and soft contact lense?
- hard contact lenses are made of relatively rigid material and last a long time
- they have to be removed overnight and kept sterile
- soft lenses are made of more flexible materials which are more comfortable but do not last as long and carry a higher risk of infection
How does laser eye surgery to treat eye defects?
- a laser is used to vaporise tissue, changing the shape of the cornea
- slimming the cornea down makes it less powerful and can improve short sight
- changing the shape so that it is more powerful will improve long sight
- since the cornea refracts light into the eye
What occurs during replacement lens surgery to treat eye defects?
- natural lens of the eye is removed
- artificial lens, made of clear plastic, is inserted in its place
What must be kept at a stable level in the body for enzymes to function properly?
core body temperature at around 37 degrees centigrade
What part of the body is responsible for monitoring core body temperature?
the thermoregulatory centre in the hypothalamus of the brain