Principles of Anatomy and Physiology - Chapter 1

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from Chapter 1 (An Introduction to the Human Body) of Principles of Anatomy and Physiology (14th Edition).

Anatomy

The study of body structures and the relationships among them.

Physiology

The study of how body structures function.

Chemical Level

The structural level comprising atoms (such as C, H, O, N, P) and molecules (such as DNA).

Cellular Level

The structural level composed of cells, the basic structural and functional units of an organism.

Tissue Level

The structural level consisting of groups of cells and surrounding materials working together to perform a specific function.

Organ Level

The structural level consisting of structures composed of two or more different types of tissues that have specific functions and recognizable shapes.

System Level

The structural level consisting of related organs that have a common function.

Organismal Level

The highest structural level, comprising all parts of the human body functioning together as a whole individual.

Integumentary System

The body system consisting of skin, hair, fingernails, toenails, sweat glands, and oil glands that protects the body, regulates temperature, and detects sensations.

Skeletal System

The body system consisting of bones, joints, and cartilages that supports and protects the body, provides muscle attachments, and houses blood-cell producing cells.

Muscular System

The body system consisting of skeletal muscle tissue that participates in body movements, maintains posture, and produces heat.

Nervous System

The body system consisting of the brain, spinal cord, nerves, and special sense organs that generates action potentials to regulate body activities.

Endocrine System

The body system consisting of hormone-producing glands and cells that regulates body activities by releasing chemical messengers into the blood.

Cardiovascular System

The body system consisting of blood, heart, and blood vessels that carries oxygen and nutrients to cells and carries carbon dioxide and wastes away.

Lymphatic System and Immunity

The body system consisting of lymphatic fluid, vessels, spleen, thymus, lymph nodes, and tonsils that returns proteins and fluid to blood and protects against disease.

Respiratory System

The body system consisting of lungs and air passageways that transfers oxygen from inhaled air to blood and carbon dioxide from blood to exhaled air.

Digestive System

The body system consisting of the gastrointestinal tract and accessory organs that achieves physical and chemical breakdown of food and absorbs nutrients.

Urinary System

The body system consisting of kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, and urethra that produces, stores, and eliminates urine and regulates blood volume and composition.

Reproductive Systems

The body systems consisting of gonads and associated organs that produce gametes (sperm or oocytes) and hormones to form a new organism.

Palpation

A noninvasive diagnostic technique where the examiner feels body surfaces with gentle touch.

Auscultation

A noninvasive diagnostic technique where the examiner listens to body sounds.

Percussion

A noninvasive diagnostic technique where the examiner taps on the body surface and listens to the resulting echo or resonance.

Metabolism

The sum of all chemical processes that occur in the human body.

Responsiveness

The body's ability to detect and respond to changes in its internal or external environment.

Differentiation

The process in which unspecialized cells develop into specialized cells.

Autopsy

A postmortem examination of the body and dissection of its internal organs to confirm or determine the cause of death.

Homeostasis

A condition of equilibrium, or balance, in the body's internal environment maintained by regulatory processes.

Extracellular Fluid (ECF)

The fluid surrounding body cells whose precise chemical composition must be regulated for cell survival.

Receptor

A body structure that monitors changes in a controlled condition and sends nerve impulses or chemical signals (input) to a control center.

Control Center

A body structure that sets the range of values within which a controlled condition should be maintained, evaluates input, and generates output signals.

Effector

A body structure that receives output from the control center and produces a response that alters the controlled condition.

Feedback System

A cycle of events in which the status of a body condition is monitored, evaluated, changed, remonitored, and reevaluated.

Negative Feedback System

A feedback mechanism that reverses a change in a controlled condition to return it to homeostasis.

Positive Feedback System

A feedback mechanism that strengthens or reinforces a change in a controlled condition until broken by an outside event.

Anatomical Position

A standardized body position in which the subject stands erect facing the observer, upper extremities at the sides, palms turned forward, and feet flat on the floor.

Midsagittal Plane

A vertical plane passing through the midline of the body or organ that divides it into equal right and left sides.

Parasagittal Plane

A vertical plane passing through the body or organ that divides it into unequal right and left sides.

Frontal Plane

A plane that divides the body or an organ into anterior (front) and posterior (back) portions.

Transverse Plane

A plane that divides the body or an organ into superior (upper) and inferior (lower) portions.

Oblique Plane

A plane that passes through the body or an organ at an angle between a transverse plane and a sagittal or frontal plane.

Cranial Cavity

A body cavity formed by cranial bones that contains the brain.

Vertebral Canal

A body cavity formed by the vertebral column that contains the spinal cord and beginnings of spinal nerves.

Thoracic Cavity

The chest cavity containing the pleural cavities, pericardial cavity, and mediastinum.

Mediastinum

The central portion of the thoracic cavity between the lungs, extending from the sternum to the vertebral column and first rib to diaphragm.

Peritoneum

The serous membrane of the abdominal cavity that covers visceral organs and lines the abdominal wall.

Abdominopelvic Quadrants

The four divisions of the abdominopelvic cavity (RUQ, LUQ, RLQ, LLQ) formed by vertical and horizontal lines passing through the umbilicus.

Radiography

A imaging procedure where a single barrage of x-rays passes through the body to produce a 2D image called a radiograph.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

A noninvasive imaging technique exposing the body to a high-energy magnetic field and radio waves to read proton patterns and visualize soft tissue details.

Computed Tomography (CT)

A computer-assisted radiography technique where an x-ray beam traces an arc around a body section to construct transverse section images.

Ultrasound Scanning

An imaging technique using high-frequency sound waves reflected off body tissues to create a sonogram.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

An imaging procedure using injected positron-emitting substances to generate color-coded images indicating functional tissue activity.

Endoscopy

The visual examination of the interior of body organs or cavities using a lighted instrument with lenses called an endoscope.

Radionuclide Scanning

An imaging procedure where a radioactive substance is introduced intravenously and gamma rays are detected to show tissue activity.