A&P I: chapter 1 - 4 (8/2026)

Gross anatomy

study of structures that can be seen with naked eye

Histology

examination of tissues w/ microscope (microscopic anatomy)

Histopathology

microscopic examination of tissues for signs of disease

Cytology

study of structure and function of cells

Ultrastructure

down to the molecular level (fine detail)

Ultrastructure is revealed

by the electron microscope

Palpation

feeling structure with hands (ex palpating a swollen lymph node or taking a pulse)

Auscultation

listening to the natural sounds made by the body (ex heart and lung sounds)

Anatomy

is the study of structure

physiology

is the study of function

until 19th century, the very words anatomy and dissection both mean…

cutting apart

endocrinology

physiology of hormones

pathophysiology

study of diseases mechanisms

comparative physiology is the study of…

how different species have solved problems of life (ex: water balance

__ the basis for the development of new drugs and medical procedures (ex: surgeon may learn animal surgery before practicing on humans)

Comparative physiology

Organelles are

structures inside a cell that perform specific jobs (ex nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes)

4 major classes of tissue are

Epithelial tissue (covers surfaces and lines organs)

Connective tissue (supports, connects, and protects)

Muscle tissue (produces movement)

Nervous tissue (sends electrical signals)

dynamic equilibrium is…

the internal state of the body

The receptor is a…

… is a mechanism that processes this information

structure that senses a change in the body (ex the stretch receptors that monitor blood pressure)

The integrating (control) center

Integrating (control) center

processes sensory information and directs response (ex: cardiac center of brainstem)

Positive feedback is a

process where a change causes more of the same change to occur, making the original change stronger

(textbook: self-amplifying mechanism in which a physiological change leads to an even greater change in the same direction)

Negative feedback is a

mechanism that keeps a variable close to it's set-point (ex body temp)

Effector is a

cell or organ that directly carries out a response to a stimulus (ex heart, muscles, sweat glands)

A physiological gradient is a

difference in chemical concentration, electrical charge, physical pressure, temperature, etc

charged particles (like Na+) flow…

down electrical gradients

pressure gradient is difference in…

thermal gradient is difference in…

pressure between two areas (ex blood move down a pressure gradient from higher pressure place to lower)

temperature between two areas (ex heat flows from warm areas to cool areas down a thermal gradient)

malleus?

middle-ear bone

malleolous?

bony protuberance of ankle

Terminologia Anatomica gives the

official Latin name for each structure and accepted English equivalent (eponyms were rejected)

the older system of Terminologia Anatomica is…

Nomina Anatomica

living organisms exhibit genetic change from generation to generation, in other words

organisms pass genetic info (DNA) from parents to offspring, and that DNA can change over generations

Eponyms is…

Eponyms provide…

a term named after a person

little or no clue as to what a structure or condition is

The integumentary system

contains the skin and hair

Sonography uses a…

Sonography produces…

handheld device pressed against the skin

produces high-frequency ultrasound waves

until X-ray, computed tomography (CT scan) creates

many X-ray images from different angles that look like the body has been cut into thin sections

older term for CT scan (computed tomography) is…

CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography)

compared to X-rays, MRIs are better at going through

extremely dense structures like bones

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses…

magnets and radio waves

What are the 3 abdominal regions in the top row?

Right hypochondriac, epigastric, left hypochondriac

What are the 3 abdominal regions in the middle row?

Right lumbar, umbilical, left lumbar.

What are the 3 abdominal regions in the bottom row?

Right iliac, hypogastric, left iliac

Situs inversus means

(rare conditon)

the organs in chest and abdomen are flipped into a mirror image of normal anatomy

(situs: position)

(inversus: reversed)

Right hypochondriac region?

liver, gallbladder, right kidney, small intestine

(notes: Liver: processes nutrients and makes bile

Gallbladder: stores and releases bile

Right kidney: filters blood and makes urine

Small intestine: digests food and absorbs nutrients)

Epigastric region?

stomach, duodenum, liver, pancreas, spleen, adrenal glands

(notes: Stomach: digests food

Duodenum: continues digestion

Liver: processes nutrients and makes bile

Pancreas: makes digestive enzymes and hormones

Spleen: filters blood and helps immune defense

Adrenal glands: produce hormones for stress, metabolism, and blood pressure)

Left hypochondriac?

spleen, colon, left kidney, pancreas

Right lumbar

gallbladder, liver, right colon

Umbilical region?

umbilicus (navel), small intestine, duodenum

Left lumbar

descending colon, left kidney

Right iliac

appendix, cecum

Hypogastric region?

urinary bladder, sigmoid colon, female reproductive system

Left iliac

descending colon, sigmoid colon

Claudius Galen is an ancient Greek physician who studied…

animals because human dissection was restricted

Terrestrial adaptations

adaptations for living/moving on land

widened pelvis (terrestrial adaptation) helps

support the body and organs during walking

Bipedalism (terrestrial) is where

an organism moves using its two lower limbs

Arboreal adaptations

adaptations for living/moving in trees

Prehension (arboreal adaptation) is the

ability to grasp/hold onto branches with the hands or feet

Percussion is a

physical examination technique where a healthcare provider taps on body

trapezium bone is a

bone in the wrist

zygomaticus bone is

the cheekbone

Progesterone is a

hormone that helps maintain the uterus for pregnancy

(negative feedback loop with the hypothalamus and the anterior pituitary)

the more estrogen, the more

(estrogen involved in postive feedback during menstrual cycle)

luteinizing hormones release

Luteinizing hormone (LH)

triggers ovulation and helps produce sex hormones

Gonadotropin is a

hormone that acts on the ovaries/testes (ex: luteinizing horome and follicle-stimulating hormone)

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)

signals the pituitary to release luteinizing hormone (LH) and Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)

Hippocrates (460 - 370 BCE)

Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE)

promoted observation-based medicine

studied animal anatomy

Metrodora (200-400 CE) wrote text focused on…

women’s health and gynecology

Avicenna (980-1037) wrote

wrote The Canon of Medicine, an influential medical textbook.

Maimonides (1138 - 1204) contributed to…

medical ethics

Andreas Vesalius (980 - 1037)

father of modern anatomy, studied human body through dissections, and corrected Claudius Galen errors

Michael Servetus (1511-1553) & William Harvey (1578-1657) helped

establish understanding of blood circulation

Robert Hooke (1635-1703) & Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)

advanced microscopy (hooke named cells, leeuwenhoek observed microorganisms)

Matthias Schlediden (1804-1881) and Theodor Schwann (1810-1882)?

concluded that all organisms were made of cells (aka cell theory)

-ac

-ocytes

-itis

-ectomy

-pulmonary

pertaining to heart

cells

inflammation

surgical removal

pertaining to lungs

peri-

dextro-

angio-

around/surrounding

right

blood vessel

vasodilation is the

(hint: heat leaves inside)

widening of blood vessels as muscle walls relax, which increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure

Vasoconstriction is the

(hint: heat stays inside)

narrowing of blood vessels as muscles tighten, which decreases blood flow and raises blood pressure

The inductive method builds moves from…

hypothetico-deductive method moves from…

specfic observations to general conclusion

general to specific (using hypothesis and experiments)

Physiological variation refers to

functional differences in how the body's internal systems operate due to natural factors (ex age, activity level, enviornment)

Cadaver

deceased human body used for medical examination, dissection, or autopsy to determine cause of death.

holism theory is that a

complex system is more than sum of individual parts and can only be understood by looking at the entire system

Chemicals flow down a ____ gradient

concentration

Homeostasis

ability to detect change, activate mechanisms that oppose it, and maintain relatively stable internal conditions

Biochemistry

study of molecules that compose living organisms

abundant elements that account for 98.5% of body weight?

carbon, hydroge, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium

minerals?

inorganic elements extracted from the soil by plants and passed up food chain

inorganic molecules?

dont contain carbon-hydrogen bonds

molecules are…

(ex: …)

chemical particles made of 2 or more atoms united by a chemical bond

N₂ or C6H12O2 (glucose)

Nonpolar covalent

Polar covalent

Electrons are shared equally

Electrons are shared unequally

hydrogen bond is a

weak attraction between a slightly positive hydrogen (H) and a slightly negative atom

Phosphorylation =

adding a phosphate group to a molecule

Phosphagenesis =

generating ATP using phosphate (ex: creatine phosphate)

most common colloids are?

mixtures of protein and water (ex: albumin in blood plasma)

colloids are chemical mixtures that contain particles that…

are 1-100 nm and scatter light (so usually cloudy)

acid (below pH 7) is any …

base (above pH 7) is …

proton donor

proton acceptor

mmol (millimole) tells us what?

how much of a substance we have

mEq (milliequivalent) tells us what

how much electrical charge these particles have

mEq (milliequivalent) formula?

mmol (millimole) x ion’s charge

mEq/L (milliequivalents per liter) tells us what?

the amount of electrolyte’s electrical charge

Reversible reactions follow the law of mass action which they tend to move from

the side (of reaction) with a higher concentration of substances to the side with a lower substances