Histology and Tissue Preparation Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering histology concepts, tissue types, sectioning methods, and tissue preparation terminology from the lecture notes.

Reductionism

An approach of examining tiny cells under a microscope to figure out how they influence the greater part of the body.

Histology

The study of tissues or cells clumped together at the cellular level to understand how they act and function together.

Epithelium

A basic tissue type that forms covering layers or sheets to protect solid tissue from exposed areas, and often functions in secretion.

Connective tissue

A basic tissue type that fundamentally supports the body, including structures like bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, tissue layers under membranes, and blood.

Muscle tissue

A basic tissue type that contracts to cause movement, categorized into skeletal, cardiac, and smooth types.

Nervous tissue

A basic tissue type responsible for transmitting and processing information, located mostly in the brain and spinal cord with approximately $2\%$ distributed in peripheral nerves.

Excitable membrane

A property of muscle and nerve cell membranes that enables them to carry electrical signals or ripples down the membrane when local charge polarity flips.

Microtome

A thin-slicing instrument used in histology to cut extremely thin sections of tissue samples.

Whole mount

A slide preparation where an entire piece of tissue or sample is placed directly onto a slide without cutting it into layer sections.

Section

A tissue preparation method where tissue is cut straight down through its structure to display all of its underlying layers on a slide.

Smear

A slide preparation method where tissue is spread thin and flat across the slide surface.

Cross section

A histological slice cut straight crossways through a long structure or tube, such as a bone or artery.

Oblique section

A histological slice cut crossways at an angle through a tube, which can make round tubular structures appear oval.

Longitudinal section

A histological slice cut along the length or long way of a tissue structure or tube.

PSA test

A blood screening test for prostate cancer that measures the amount of prostate juice being given off.

Basement membrane

A dense layer of collagen fibers located under epithelial cells to which the cells attach, produced partly by the epithelial cells and partly by underlying connective tissue.