human anatomy

🧠 Human Anatomy Study Guide

🔹 Major Body Cavities

  • Cranial

  • Spinal

  • Thoracic

  • Abdominal

  • Pelvic

🔹 Levels of Organization (smallest to largest)

  1. Atom

  2. Molecule

  3. Cell

  4. Tissue

  5. Organ

  6. Organ system

  7. Organism

🔹 Functions of Body Systems

System

Function

Digestive

Breaks down food and absorbs nutrients

Lymphatic

Protects against disease; returns fluid to bloodstream

Nervous

Sends/receives impulses; coordinates body functions

Skeletal

Provides structure, protection, makes blood

Urinary

Removes waste from blood; maintains water/salt balance

🔹 Cross-Sections of the Body

  • Transverse: Divides body into top and bottom

  • Frontal (coronal): Divides body into front and back

  • Sagittal: Divides body into left and right

  • Cross-section of cylindrical organ = transverse

  • Lengthwise cut of organ = longitudinal

🔹 9 Abdominopelvic Regions (and Stomach Location)

  1. Right hypochondriac

  2. Epigastric (Stomach is here!)

  3. Left hypochondriac

  4. Right lumbar

  5. Umbilical

  6. Left lumbar

  7. Right iliac (inguinal)

  8. Hypogastric

  9. Left iliac (inguinal)

Definition of physiology

  • The study of the functions of the body and how body parts work.

The structural and functional unit of life

  • The cell.

2 systems that control homeostasis

  • Nervous system and Endocrine system.

Anatomical position

  • Standing upright, facing forward, arms at the sides, palms forward, feet parallel.

Anterior = ventral

  • Toward the front of the body. (Opposite = Posterior = dorsal, toward the back.)

Life functions

  • Maintaining boundaries, movement, responsiveness/irritability, digestion, metabolism, excretion, reproduction, growth.

Terms of relative positions – definitions & opposite

  • Above = Superior / Below = Inferior

  • Toward the front = Anterior (ventral) / Toward the back = Posterior (dorsal)

  • Closer to the midline = Medial / Closer to the sides = Lateral

  • Same side = Ipsilateral / Opposite side = Contralateral

  • Closer to a point (on a limb) = Proximal / Farther away from a point = Distal

  • More internal = Deep / Closer to the surface of the body = Superficial

Anterior body regions vs. posterior body regions

  • Anterior: frontal, orbital, nasal, oral, thoracic, abdominal, pelvic, pubic, brachial, carpal, femoral, etc.

  • Posterior: occipital, vertebral, lumbar, gluteal, sural, etc.

Body regions

  • Axial region (head, neck, trunk).

  • Appendicular region (limbs and girdles).

Components of the ventral cavity

  • Thoracic cavity (pleural cavities, pericardial cavity, mediastinum).

  • Abdominopelvic cavity (abdominal cavity, pelvic cavity).

Distinguish between anatomy and physiology

  • Anatomy: study of body structures (what it is).

  • Physiology: study of body functions (what it does).