Anatomy and Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function Chapter 1

Name the method that would be used for each of the following: listening to a patient for a heart murmur; studying the microscopic structure of the liver; microscopically examining liver tissue for signs of hepatitis; learning the blood vessels of a cadaver; and performing a breast self-examination.

Auscultation (listening to natural sounds made by the body); histology (microscopic anatomy); histopathology (microscopic anatomy searching for disease signs), cytology (study of structure and function of individual cells); palpation (feeling structure with hands)

Controls

Biomedical experiments require comparison between treated and untreated individuals so that we can judge whether the treatment has any effect.

Atoms

Building blocks of matter

Charles Darwin

English naturalist. He studied the plants and animals of South America and the Pacific islands, and in his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) set forth his theory of evolution. Directly addressed the issue of human evolution and emphasized features of anatomy and behavior that reveal our relationship to other animals.

William Harvey

English physician and scientist who described the circulation of the blood

Is there more information in an individual scientific fact or in a theory? Explain.

In a theory because a theory is an explanatory statement or set of statements derived from facts, laws, and confirmed hypothesis.

In many schools of science, what is one of the first steps in training students.

It's the dissection of the cadaver

Organelles and other cellular components are composed of what?

Molecules

How is our concept of human form and function today affected by inventors from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries?

The improvement of the microscope has greatly affected the course of human research.

Andreas Vesalius

a Flemish surgeon who is considered the father of modern anatomy (1514-1564) Taught anatomy in Italy.

Evolution

a change in the genetic composition of a population of organisms over time

Adaptations

features of anatomy, physiology, and behavior that have evolved in response to these selection pressures and enable the organism to cope with the challenges of its environment

Feedback Loops

feedback mechanisms alter the original changes that triggered them

Palpation

feeling a structure with the hands. example will be taking a pulse.

Cell Theory

idea that all living things are composed of cells, cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things, and new cells are produced from existing cells

Fact

information that has been objectively verified

dynamic equilibrium

internal state of the body

Auscultation

listening to the natural sounds made by the body, such as heart and lung sounds.

cellular composition

living matter is always compartmentalized into one or more cells

Organization

living things exhibit a higher level of organization than nonliving things

Organelles

microscopic structures in a cell that carry out its individual functions

Selection Pressures

natural forces that promote the reproductive success of some individuals more than others

Double Blind Method

neither the subject to whom a treatment is given nor the person giving it and recording the results knows whether that subject is receiving the experimental treatment or placebo

Claude Bernard and Walter Cannon

observed that the internal conditions of the body remain quite constant even when external conditions vary greatly

Exploratory Surgery

opening the body and taking a look inside to see what was wrong and what could be done about it

Claudius Galen

physician to the Roman gladiators, wrote the most influential medical textbook of the ancient era- a book worshipped to excess by medical professors for centuries to follow.

Neurophysiology

physiology of the nervous system

Statistical Testing

provides statement of probability that treatment was effective

Describe some sources of potential bias in biomedical research

psychosomatic effects

Ultrastructure

refers to fine detail, down to the molecular level, revealed by the electron microscope

Elements of Experimental Design

sample size, controls, psychosomatic effects, experimenter bias, statistical testing

positive feedback

self-amplifying cycle in which a physiological change leads to even greater change in the same direction

Inspection

simply looking at the body's appearance, as in performing a physical examination or making a clinical diagnosis from surface appearance.

Organism

single, complete individual

Cells

smallest unit of life

Gross Anatomy

structure that can be seen with the naked eye

Receptor

structure that senses change in the body

Cytology

study of structure and function of cells

Endocrinology

study of the endocrine system physiology of hormones

Responsiveness and Movement

the ability of organisms to sense and react to stimuli

Holism

the complementary theory that there are "emergent properties" of the whole organism that cannot be predicted from the properties of its separate parts

Percussion

the examiner taps on the body, feels for abnormal resistance, and listens to the emitted sound for signs of abnormalities such as pockets of fluid or air

Control Group

the group that does not receive the experimental treatment.

set point

the point at which your "weight thermostat" is supposedly set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore the lost weight

comparative physiology

the study of how different species have solved problems of life such as water balance, respiration, and reproduction

Pathophysiology

the study of how disease processes affect the function of the body mechanisms of disease

Comparative Anatomy

the study of multiple species in order to examine similarities and differences and analyze evolutionary trends

Histology

the study of the microscopic structure of tissues

Bipedalism

walking on two legs and feet

Describe two ways in which Vesalius improved education and set standards that remain relevant today.

Vesalius broke with tradition by coming down from the cathedra and doing the dissections himself. He pointed out that much of the anatomy in Galen's book were wrong.

When we study a structure, what do we want to know?

What does it do?

In what ways did the followers of Galen disregard his advice?

He advised them not to trust his observations and to explore it for themselves. His followers chose to take Galen's word on many things rather than exploring it on their own.

As early as 3,000 years ago, what did physicians in Mesopotamia and Egypt treat patients with?

Herbal drugs, salts, physical therapy, and faith healing

Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes

envisioned science as a far greater, systematic enterprise with enormous possibilities for human health and welfare

Aristotle

A Greek Philosopher, taught Alexander the Great, started a famous school, studied with Plato One of the first philosophers to write about anatomy and physiology. He believed that diseases and other natural events could have either supernatural causes, which he called theologi, or natural ones, which he called physici or physiologi

Maimonides

A Jewish scholar in Cordoba, Spain, who organized a collection of Jewish oral law.

Cadaver

A dead human body

Gradient

A difference in concentration, pressure, or electrical charge between two regions.

Organ System

A group of organs that work together to perform a major function such as circulation, respiration, or digestion.

Negative Feedback

A primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a physiological variable that is being monitored triggers a response that counteracts the initial fluctuation.

Macromolecules

A very large organic molecule composed of many smaller molecules

Define adaptation and selection pressure. Why are these concepts important in understanding human anatomy and physiology?

Adaptation = features of an organism's anatomy, physiology, and behavior that have evolved in response to selection pressures and enable the organism to cope with challenges of its environment. Selection Pressure = Natural forces that promote the reproductive success of some individuals more than others. We have to understand how the body and its functions work in order to comprehend the concepts of human anatomy and physiology.

Reproduction

All living organisms can produce copies of themselves.

Evolution (Second Definition)

All living species exhibit genetic change from generation to generation and therefore evolve.

Homeostasis

Although the environment around an organism changes, the organism maintains relatively stable internal conditions. Examples include a stable temperature, blood pressure, and body weight

Model

An animal species or strain that is selected for research on a particular problem.

Theory

An explanatory statement or set of statements derived from facts, laws, and confirmed hypotheses

How are the tissues relevant to the definition of an organ?

An organ is a structure composed of two or more tissue types that work together to carry out particular functions.

What is the difference between anatomy and physiology? How do these two sciences support each other?

Anatomy is the study of structure while physiology is the study of function. The structure determines what function takes place. Physiology gives meaning to anatomy, while anatomy makes physiology possible.

Development

Any change in form or function over the lifetime of an organism.

Many insights into human structure are obtained from what?

Comparative Anatomy

Michael Servetus

Described the circulatory system of the lungs, explained how digestion is a source of heat for the body

Robert Hooke

Designed scientific instruments of various kinds, including the compound microscope.

Hippocrates

Father of Medicine; created Hippocratic Oaht He urged physicians to stop attributing disease to the activities of gods and demons and to seek their natural causes, which could afford the only rational basis for therapy.

Anthony van Leeuwenhoek

Invented a simple (single lens) microscope, originally for the purpose of examining the weave of fabrics.

Metabolism

Living things take in molecules from the environment and chemically change them into molecules that form their own structures, control their physiology, or provide them with energy the sum of all chemical processes that occur in an organism

Evolution works largely through the principle of what?

Natural Selection

In the hierarchy of human structure, what is the level between organ system and tissue? Cell and molecule?

Organ and Organelle

Describe the general process in the inductive method

Process of making numerous observations until one feels confident in the drawing generalizations and predictions from them

Why is reductionism a necessary but not sufficient point of view for fully understanding a patient's illness?

Reductionism is a theory that a large, complex system such as the human body can be understood by studying its simplest components.

Scientific Method

Refers less to observational procedures than to certain habits of disciplined creativity, careful observation, logical thinking, and honest analysis of one's observations and conclusions.

Why should medical students observe multiple cadavers and not be satisfied to dissect only one?

Some anatomy textbooks can easily give the impression that everybody's internal anatomy is the same when the common structure is only about 70% the same.

Sample Size

The number of subjects used in an experiment or study. Generally, the larger the better.

Physiology

The study of function

Anatomy

The study of structure

Reductionism

The theory that a large, complex system such as the human body can be understood by studying its simpler components

Law of Nature

a generalization about the predictable ways in which matter and energy behave

Tissue

a mass of similar cells and cell products that forms a discrete region of an organ and performs a specific function

Experimenter Bias

a phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained

Inductive Method

a process of making numerous observations until one feels confident in drawing generalizations and predictions from them

Peer Review

a review by people with similar professional qualification

Organ

a structure composed of two or more tissue types that performs a specific function for the body

hypothetico-deductive method

an investigator begins by asking a question and formulating a hypothesis

Effector

an organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus.

Evolutionary Medicine

analyzes how human disease and dysfunctions can be traced to differences between the artificial environment in which we now live, and the prehistoric environment to which Homo sapiens was biologically adapted

Radiology

branch of medicine concerned with imaging

Dissection

carefully cutting and separating tissues to reveal their relationships

Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann

concluded that all organisms were composed of cells

Stereoscopic

depth perception

psychosomatic effects

effects of the subject's state of mind on his or her physiology