Revised Chapter 1 Major Themes of Anatomy

Anatomy

The study of form.

Dissection

Cutting apart, essential for study.

Comparative anatomy

Studies bodies of more than one species.

Exploratory surgery

Largely replaced by medical imaging.

Radiology

The branch of medicine concerned with imaging.

Gross anatomy

Involves structures that can be seen with the naked eye.

Histology

The observation of tissue specimens microscopically.

Histopathology

Studying tissue for signs of disease.

Cytology

The study of individual cells.

Ultrastructure

The fine detail of tissue revealed by the electron microscope.

Physiology

The study of function.

Comparative physiology

The study of biological functions of different species.

Hippocrates

Considered the 'father of medicine,' lived in Greece ca. 400 BCE.

Aristotle

Tried to identify unifying themes in nature, lived in Greece ca. 350 BCE.

Galen

Wrote the most noteworthy medical text of his time, lived in Rome ca. 160.

Maimonides

Wrote 10 medical texts, lived ca. 1180.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

Wrote The Canon of Medicine, leading text in Europe for 500 years, lived ca. 1000.

Andreas Vesalius

Taught anatomy, conducted autopsies, published the first atlas of anatomy in 1543.

William Harvey

Discovered the continuous circulation of blood, lived ca. 1630.

Robert Hooke

Designed microscopes and was the first to be able to view cells, lived ca. 1670.

Antony van Leeuwenhoek

Improved the magnification of microscopes to about 200×, lived ca. 1665.

Carl Zeiss and Ernst Abbe

Improved the compound microscope in the mid-1800s.

Cell theory

Set forth by Schleiden and Schwann in the mid-1800s, stating that all organisms are composed of cells.

Scientific method

A combination of disciplined creativity, careful observation, logical thinking, and honest analysis.

Inductive method

Involves making numerous observations and drawing a generalization from them.

Hypothetico-inductive method

Involves formulating a hypothesis and then making observations or performing tests to support or refute it.

Proper experimental design

Helps ensure that results obtained are not biased.

Sample size

large size allows greater confidence in results.

Control groups

Help ensure that observed differences are due to the factors being tested.

Placebo substances

Help to eliminate psychosomatic effects of treatment differences.

Double-blind method

Guards against experimenter bias by hiding the identity of the treatment groups versus control groups.

Statistical testing

Allows evaluation of whether a result has occurred simply by chance.

Peer review

Evaluation of a completed project by other experts in the field to help ensure honesty, objectivity, and quality of research.

Scientific fact

Information that can be independently verified by any trained person.

Law of nature

A generalization about the ways in which matter and energy behave.

Verbal statements of laws

Some laws are expressed as verbal statements, such as the law of complementary base pairing in DNA.

Mathematical formulae of laws

Other laws are expressed as mathematical formulae, such as Boyle's law about the inverse relation of gas volume to pressure.

Theory

A statement or set of statements derived from facts, laws, and confirmed hypotheses.

Natural selection

The principle theory of how evolution works proposed by Darwin in '“On the Origin of Species”

Hereditary advantages

Some individuals have ____________ over competitors that allow them to produce more offspring.

Selection pressures

Forces such as climate, predators, disease, competition, and the availability of food.

Adaptations

Features of an organism that have evolved in response to selection pressures.

DNA difference

The DNA of humans has a difference of only 1.6% compared to that of chimpanzees on the basis of hybridization studies.

Model species

An animal species selected for research on a question.

Primates

An order of mammals that includes humans, monkeys, and apes.

Earliest primates

Descended from squirrel-sized insectivores that lived in trees 60 million years ago.

Mobility adaptation

The shoulder of early primates adapted to become more mobile, allowing reaching in any direction.

Opposable thumbs

Fully opposable thumbs developed by Arboreal animals that made hands prehensile, or able to grasp branches.

Stereoscopic vision

Eyes of primates became more forward-facing, allowing for ____________.

Color vision in primates

Allowing identification of ripe fruits and tender young leaves.

Common ancestor

Humans did not evolve from monkeys or apes, but from a common ancestor.

Bipedalism

Means standing and walking on two legs, with adaptations of the feet, legs, pelvis, spine, skull, and arms necessary.

Fossil footprints

Fossil footprints of bipedal primates have been found dating to 3.6 million years ago.

Brain volume

Increased dramatically as adaptations for bipedalism occurred.

Increased skull size

Would make birth difficult and may explain why human infants are born in an immature state.

Helplessness of young

Increased the need for parental care and may explain the development of family ties.

Australopithecus

The oldest bipedal primates.

Genus Homo

Arose about 2.5 million years ago.

Homo erectus

Migrated from Africa to parts of Asia about 1.8 million years ago.

Homo sapiens

Originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago and is the sole surviving hominid species.

Evolutionary medicine

An emerging science studying the differences between the environment Homo sapiens were biologically adapted to and the environment in which we live.

Hierarchy of complexity

Humans exhibit this in body structures.

Organism

A single, complete individual.

Organ system

A group of organs with a unique collective function.

Examples of organ systems

Include circulation, respiration, and digestion.

Number of organ systems in the human body

The human body has 11 organ systems.

Organ

A structure composed of two or more tissue types that work together to carry out a particular function.

Definite anatomical boundaries

Organs have these and are distinguishable from other structures.

Organs within organs

The skin is the body's largest organ but contains thousands of smaller organs such as glands, hairs, nerves, etc.

Tissue

A mass of similar cells and cell products that forms a discrete region in an organ and carries out a specific function.

Primary tissue classes

The body is composed of only four: epithelial, connective, nervous, and muscular.

Cells

The smallest units of an organism that carry out all the basic functions of life.

Organelles

Microscopic structures in a cell that carry out its individual functions.

Examples of organelles

Include mitochondria, centrosomes, and lysosomes.

Molecules

Groups of two or more atoms bonded together.

Cells and their organelles

Contain highly complex macromolecules.

Atoms

The smallest particles of matter that have unique chemical identities.

Reductionism

The theory that a large, complex system can be understood by studying its simpler components.

Holism

The theory that whole organisms have 'emergent properties' that cannot be predicted from the properties of their component parts.

Anatomical variation

Is normal, and reference books usually provide only the most common form based on 70% of the population.

Situs Inversus

An example of unusual inverted anatomy.

Life properties

Characterized by organization, cellular composition, metabolism and excretion, responsiveness and movement, homeostasis, development, reproduction, and evolution.

Metabolism

The sum of all internal chemical changes and comprises anabolism, or synthesis reactions, and catabolism, or breakdown reactions.

Excretion

The process required to remove the waste molecules produced by metabolism.

Responsiveness; Irritability; Excitablity

The ability to sense and react to stimuli.

Movement

The capability of organisms to move from place to place or move materials internally within their bodies and cells.

Homeostasis

The ability to maintain stable internal conditions.

Development

Any change in form or function over an organism's lifetime.

Differentiation

The transformation of generalized cells into cells with specialized tasks.

Growth

An increase in size that occurs via chemical change.

Reproduction

The capability of all living things to produce copies of themselves (offspring) and pass on their genes.

Evolution

The genetic change exhibited by all living species from generation to generation.

Mutations

Changes in DNA structure that are inevitable.

Clinical criteria for life

Criteria that differ from biological criteria, such as being declared legally dead if showing no brain function for 24 hours.

Physiological variables

Factors that differ depending on sex, age, weight, diet, activity, environment, etc.

Dynamic equilibrium

The best description of the internal state of the body, which fluctuates within a range.

Negative feedback

A process in which the body senses a change and activates a process to reverse it.

Body temperature regulation

Regulated by a negative feedback system; shivering to produce more heat

Vasodilation

The widening of blood vessels triggered by the body's internal thermostat to lose heat.

Vasoconstriction

The narrowing of blood vessels triggered by the body's thermostat to retain heat.