Physiology Chapter 1 - Intro to Physiology

What is physiology?

The study of normal functioning of a living organism and its component parts, including all its chemical and physical processes

What are emergent properties?

Properties that cannot be predicted to exist based only on knowledge of the system's individual components

What are the different functional groups of proteins?

Enzymes

Signal molecules

Receptor proteins

Specialized proteins

What is an enzyme?

Functional protein that speeds up a chemical reaction

What is compartmentation?

The division of space into separate compartments

Why is compartmentation in the body important?

Allows the cell, tissue or organ to specialize and isolate functions

What is homeostasis?

The concept of a relatively stable internal environment

How is homeostasis maintained?

By the use of receptors that monitor the conditions of the internal environment of the body and relay the information to an integrating center which then process the information and generates a response by sending the signal to a specific effector

What is extracellular fluid?

ECF serves as the transition (buffer zone) between an organism's external environment and the intracellular fluid inside the cell

What has potential to occur if homeostasis is not maintained?

Illness or disease

What is local control of a tissue?

A relatively isolated change occurring to a tissue causing a nearby group of cells to sense the change and release chemicals directly to that specific tissue in order to maintain the change

What is reflex control?

Long-distance pathway that uses the nervous system, endocrine system or both

What is a response loop?

Begins with a stimulus then input signal, integrating center and an output signal

What is a negative feedback loop?

Stabilizes the regulated variable and thus aid the system in maintaining homeostasis

Can restore the normal state but cannot prevent the initial disturbance

What is a positive feedback loop?

The response reinforces the stimulus rather than decreasing or removing it

The response sends the regulated variables even farther from its normal value

What is a feedforward control?

Enable the body to predict that a change is about to occur and start the response loop in anticipation of the change