Anatomy and Physiology For Dummies

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Some biologists specialize in the anatomy and physiology of animals at various hierarchical levels (horses, fish, frogs) or particular organs (mammalian circulatory systems, olfaction in fish, insect hormones). Some focus solely on humans, others concentrate on other species, and still others examine the areas of overlap between humans and other animal species. These various areas of study contribute to human knowledge of biology in general and of clinical medicine in particular. The work of anatomists contributes to medical advances, such as improved surgical techniques and the development of bioengineered prostheses. The whole enchilada. The real you. As we study organ systems, organs, tissues, and cells, we’re always looking from the organism level. Chapter 2 What Your Body Does All Day In This Chapter

Scientifically speaking, human biology isn’t more or less complex, specialized, or cosmically significant than the biology of any other species, and all are interdependent. Every species of animal, plant, and fungus on the planet has both anatomy and physiology. So does each species of protist (one-celled creatures, like amoebae and the plasmodia that cause malaria). At the cellular level (see Chapter 3), all these groups are astoundingly similar. At the levels of tissues, organs, and organ systems (the provenance of anatomy and physiology), plants are very different from animals, and both plants and animals are equally dissimilar to fungi. Abdominal cavity: Contains the stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, small intestines, and most of the large intestine

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There are 98 naturally occurring elements in nature and 20 (at last count) artificially created elements for a total of 118 known elements. However, additional spaces have yet to be filled in on the periodic chart of elements, which organizes all the elements by name, symbol, atomic weight, and atomic number. The key elements of interest to students of anatomy and physiology are Dorsal cavity: Bones of the cranial portion of the skull and vertebral column, toward the posterior (dorsal) side of the body HONC your horn for the four organic elements. These four elements make up 96 percent of all living material.

An organ is a part of the body that performs a specialized physiological function. For example, the stomach is an organ that has the specific physiological function of breaking down food. By definition, an organ is made up of at least two different tissue types; many organs contain tissues of all four types. Although we can name and describe all four tissue types that make up all organs, as we do in the preceding section, listing all the organs in the body wouldn’t be so easy. Additionally, the abdomen is divided into quadrants and regions. The mid-sagittal plane and a transverse plane intersect at an imaginary axis passing through the body at the navel (belly button). This axis divides the abdomen into quadrants (four sections). Putting an imaginary cross on the abdomen creates the right upper quadrant, left upper quadrant, right lower quadrant, and left lower quadrant. Physicians take note of these areas when a patient describes symptoms of abdominal pain. This workbook isn’t a substitute for a textbook, and it is certainly not meant to replace going to an actual anatomy and physiology class.

If you’re talking anatomy and physiology, you’re talking about the human body and its organs. The 11 systems in the following table provide the means for every human activity — from breathing to eating to moving to reproducing: System Okay, it’s test time! Take advantage of the test itself. You may find that the answer to an exam question that stumps you is revealed — at least partially — in the phrasing of a subsequent question. Stay alert to these blessed little gifts even when you think that you already understand all the anatomical structures and physiological processes. You won’t be the first student to change an answer after working your way through an exam. Review your mistakes For anatomists and physiologists from Aristotle to Charles Darwin, the images they had were the sketches they made for themselves. Some of them were pretty good at it: Darwin’s sketches of beaks of the finches of the Galapagos Islands were both beautiful and scientifically valuable. Since the early 1990s, neuroscientists have been using a type of specialized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, called functional MRI (fMRI), to acquire images of the brain. Functional imaging enables scientists to watch a patient’s or research subject’s thoughts as he or she is thinking them! This aspect of medical imaging has profound implications. Pelvic cavity:Contains the end of the large intestine, rectum, urinary bladder, and internal reproductive organs