Human physiology chapter 1-terms to know

Question 1

Define Anatomy.

Answer 1

Study of the structure of the body.

Question 2

What are body systems?

Answer 2

Groups of organs are organized into body systems. Each system is a collection of organs that perform related functions and interact to accomplish a common activity essential for survival of the whole body.

Question 3

What is a cell?

Answer 3

Basic or fundamental unit of both structure and function in a living being.

Question 4

What is cell differentiation?

Answer 4

Cells become specialized to carry out a particular function.

Question 5

What is connective tissue?

Answer 5

One of the four primary tissue types. Distinguished by having relatively few cells dispersed within an abundance of extracellular material.

Question 6

What is a control centre?

Answer 6

Also known as the integrator, which compare’s the sensor’s input with the optimal range and adjusts the effector output.

Question 7

What is a controlled variable?

Answer 7

Factor held within a narrow range by a control system.

Question 8

What is an effector?

Answer 8

Causes the needed adjustments responsible for restoring factor within normal range.

Question 9

What are endocrine glands?

Answer 9

Lack ducts and release their secretory products, known as hormones, internally into the blood.

Question 10

What is epithelial tissue?

Answer 10

Consists of cells specializing in exchange of materials between the cell and its environment.

Question 11

What are exocrine glands?

Answer 11

Secrete through ducts to the outside of the body.

Question 12

What is extracellular fluid (ECF)?

Answer 12

The fluid outside the cell. It s the internal environment of the body.

Question 13

What are extrinsic controls?

Answer 13

More common of the two controls, and are regulatory mechanisms initiated outside an organ to alter the activity of the organ. Achieved by the two major regulatory systems (endocrine and nervous). Permits synchronized regulation of several organs to a common goal.

Question 14

What is a feedback mechanism?

Answer 14

A response after a change has been detected.

Question 15

What is a feedforward mechanism?

Answer 15

Responses made in anticipation of a change.

Question 16

What are glands?

Answer 16

Epithelial tissue derivatives specialized for secreting. Two types, exocrine and endocrine.

Question 17

What is homeostasis?

Answer 17

Ability of a cell or organism to regulate its internal conditions, typically using feedback systems to minimize variation and maintain health regardless of changes in the external environment.

Question 18

What is a homeostatic control system?

Answer 18

Functionally interconnected network of body components that operate to maintain a given factor in the internal environment within a narrow range to maintain a steady state.

Question 19

What is human physiology?

Answer 19

The scientific study of the functions of our body.

Question 20

What is the internal environment?

Answer 20

Environment with which the body cells are in direct contact and make life-sustaining exchanges.

Question 21

What is interstitial fluid?

Answer 21

Component of the ECF, surrounds and bathes the cells.

Question 22

What is intracellular fluid?

Answer 22

The fluid collectively contained within all body cells.

Question 23

What are intrinsic (local) controls?

Answer 23

Controls that are built into an organ or are inherent in an organ. The organ is capable of maintaining homeostasis within itself. For example, the hear can control its own heartbeat.

Question 24

What is a lumen?

Answer 24

Cavity within a hollow organ or tube.

Question 25

What is a mechanistic approach?

Answer 25

Approach where physiologists view the body as a machine whose mechanisms of action can be explained in terms of cause and effect sequences of physical and chemical processes.

Question 26

What is muscle tissue?

Answer 26

Consists of cells specialized for contracting and generating force. Three types, skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle and smooth muscle.

Question 27

What is negative feedback?

Answer 27

A change in a homeostatically controlled factor triggers a response that seeks to maintain homeostasis by moving the factor in the opposite direction of its initial change.

Question 28

What is nervous tissue?

Answer 28

Consists of cells specialized for initiating and transmitting electrical impulses, which carry information over various distances. Found in the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves.

Question 29

What are organs?

Answer 29

Consist of two or more types of primary tissue organized together to perform a particular function or functions.

Question 30

What is pathophysiology?

Answer 30

Abnormal functioning of the body associated with disease. The result of the disease may be a homeostatic disruption that is so severe that it is no longer compatible with survival, and death results.

Question 31

What is a physiological range?

Answer 31

Range in which we proteins and such operate most efficiently.

Question 32

What is plasma?

Answer 32

The fluid portion of the blood.

Question 33

What is a plasma membrane?

Answer 33

Encloses the contents of each cell, separating these chemicals from those outside the cell. Generally a phospholipid bilayer.

Question 34

What is positive feedback?

Answer 34

The output enhances or amplifies a change so that the controlled factor continues to move in the direction of the initial change. Ex: oxytocin.

Question 35

What is secretion?

Answer 35

The release from a cell, in response to appropriate stimulation, of specific products that have been produced by the cell.

Question 36

What is a sensor?

Answer 36

Can detect a change in the narrow physiological range.

Question 37

What is a set point?

Answer 37

Specific point which is the object of homeostatic control. (albeit, less often than a physiological range.)

Question 38

What is a stem cell network?

Answer 38

Canadian venture that fosters ethical stem cell research by bringing together more than 100 individuals to examine the therapeutic potential of stem cells.

Question 39

What is a teleological approach?

Answer 39

Explains body functions in terms of meeting a bodily need (without considering how this is accomplished).

Question 40

What are tissues?

Answer 40

Cells of similar structure and specialized function combine to form tissues, of which there are four primary types.