Lakhasly

Chapter One: Introduction to Physiology o Physiology: (from the Greek physis= nature; logos= study) is the study of biological function--of how the body works, from cell to tissue, tissue to organ, organ to system, and of how the organism as a whole accomplishes particular tasks essential for life.In the study of physiology, the emphasis is on mechanisms--with questions that begin with the word how and answer that involves cause-and-effect sequences.Physiology is a branch of biology dealing with the mechanisms by which the body functions.

Chapter One: Introduction to Physiology
• Physiology:
(from the Greek physis= nature; logos= study) is the study of biological function—of how the body works, from cell to tissue, tissue to organ, organ to system, and of how the organism as a whole accomplishes particular tasks essential for life.
In the study of physiology, the emphasis is on mechanisms—with questions that begin with the word how and answer that involves cause-and-effect sequences.

Physiology
is a branch of biology dealing with the mechanisms by which the body functions. Function and process: “Why” versus “How”
"Why" = Purpose "How" = Mechanism
• Need to understand both purpose and mechanistic, but focus on mechanism.
What makes physiologists unique among biologists is that they are always interested in FUNCTION and INTEGRATION: How things work together at various levels of organization and, most importantly, in the entire organism
• How is the Body Organized?
The living world is a hierarchy, with each level of biological structure building on the level below it: Atoms molecule organelle cells tissues organ organ system an organism in a community.

• The separate facts and relationships of these cause-and effect sequences are derived empirically from experimental evidence: Explanations are true or false
• They can change as new techniques are developed and further experiments are performed.
• The ultimate objective of physiological research is to understand the normal functioning of cells, organs, and systems. A related science—pathophysiology—is concerned with how physiological processes are altered in disease or injury.
• Pathophysiology and the study of normal physiology complement one another. For example, a standard technique for investigating the functioning of an organ is to observe what happens when it is surgically removed from an experimental animal or when its function is altered in a specific way..”

• The father of modern physiology is the French physiologist Claude Bernard (1813–1878), who observed that the milieu interieur( “internal environment”) remains remarkably constant despite changing conditions in the external environment. Term homeostasis to describe this internal constancy.
• The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of human physiology to non-human animal species.
• Comparative Physiology and the change of physiological processes between different animals. Other major branches of scientific study that have grown out of physiology research include biochemistry, biophysics, biomechanics, and pharmacology