Joliet Junior College: BIO 250 - Human Anatomy and Physiology I

Dr. Melanie M. Sprengel: Lecture Objectives and Study Guide

Unit I – Introduction to A&P , Cytology, Histology & Integumentary System
*Students should know ALL diseases/disorders presented for all systems

1. Define Anatomy and Physiology and discuss their relationship.

Anatomy is the study of internal and external body structures.

Physiology is the study of how living organisms perform functions.

Anatomy and physiology are closely related because all specific functions are performed by specific structures.

Gross anatomy (often referred to as macroscopic anatomy) involves studying body structures that can be seen
with the unaided eye. Microscopic anatomy is the study of body structures using a microscope to magnify the
objects.

Several specialties of physiology are cell physiology, organ physiology, systemic physiology, and pathological
physiology.

It is difficult to separate anatomy from physiology because the structures of body parts are so closely related to
their functions; put another way, function follows form."

2. Know the levels of organization from atom to organism.

3. Define homeostasis; including the control center, effectors & receptors. Be able to give examples.
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Homeostasis (hō-mē-o-STĀ-sis; from the Greek homeo, similar + stasis, state of standing) refers to the
existence of a stable internal environment. Various physiological processes act to prevent harmful changes in
the composition of body fluids and the environment inside our cells. Maintaining homeostasis is absolutely vital
to an organism’s survival. Failure to maintain homeostasis soon leads to illness or even death.
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4. Know and give examples of positive and negative feedback systems.

In negative feedback, a stimulus produces a response that opposes or negates the original stimulus. Negative
feedback is a way of counteracting a change, is the control of body temperature, a process called
thermoregulation. In thermoregulation, the relationship between heat loss, which takes place mainly at the body
surface, and heat production, which takes place in all active tissues, is altered. In the homeostatic control of
body temperature, the thermoregulatory control center is in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain. This control
center receives information from two sets of temperature receptors, one in the skin and the other within the
hypothalamus. At the normal set point, body temperature (as measured with an oral thermometer) is
approximately 37 °C (98.6 °F).

In positive feedback, an initial stimulus produces a response that amplifies or enhances the original change in
conditions, rather than opposing it. You seldom encounter positive feedback in your daily life, simply because it
tends to produce extreme responses. For example, suppose that the thermostat was accidentally connected to a
heater rather than to an air conditioner. Now when room temperature rises above the set point, the thermostat
turns on the heater, causing a further rise in room temperature. Room temperature will continue to increase until
someone switches off the thermostat, turns off the heater, or intervenes in some other way. This kind of
escalating cycle is often called a positive feedback loop. In the body, positive feedback loops are typically found
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when a potentially dangerous or stressful process must be completed quickly to restore homeostasis. For
example, the immediate danger from a severe cut is the loss of blood, which can lower blood pressure and
reduce the efficiency of the heart. The body’s response to this blood loss is blood clotting. Labor and delivery
are another example of positive feedback.

5. Know the meaning of basic roots, prefixes, suffixes used in medical terminology.

That special language, called medical terminology, involves using word roots, prefixes, suffixes, and combining
forms to build terms related to the body in health and disease.

There are four basic building blocks—or word parts—of medical terms. Word roots are the basic, meaningful
parts of a term that cannot be broken down into another term with another definition. Prefixes are word
elements that are attached to the beginning of words to modify their meaning but cannot stand alone. Suffixes
are similar to prefixes, except they are word elements or letters added to the end of a word or word part to form
another term. Combining forms are independent words or word roots that are used in combination with words,
prefixes, suffixes, or other combining forms to build a new term.

To illustrate the building of medical terms, consider the word pathology (puh-THOL-ō-jē). Breaking this word
into its basic parts reveals its meaning. The prefix path- refers to disease (the Greek term for “disease” is
pathos). The suffix -ology means “study of.” So pathology is the study of disease."

6. Identify the planes of reference including coronal (frontal), sagittal, (midsagittal), & transverse.

7. Describe anatomical position and define the following terms: superior, inferior, anterior, posterior,
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ventral, dorsal, medial, lateral, deep, superficial, proximal, distal, cranial/cephalad, caudal.

8. Identify the major body systems and their primary functions: integumentary, skeletal, muscular,
cardiovascular, respiratory, lymphatic, digestive, nervous, endocrine, urinary, reproductive.
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9. Identify the major body cavities and be able to draw the abdominopelvic quadrants/regions.
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10. Know the 4 major organic molecules, including their functions; also know their monomer units.

11. Define and give examples of plasma membrane movements:

isotonic, hypotonic, hypertonic
passive transport: diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion
active transport: pumps, endocytosis (phagocytosis & pinocytosis), exocytosis, cotransport

12. Identify and review the characteristics of the following cell components:
plasma membrane endoplasmic reticulum Golgi apparatus nucleus
cytoplasm flagella and cilia lysosome ribosome
mitochondria microfilaments
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13. Know the structure, function, characteritics and basic location of the 4 major types of tissue:

Epithelial - cell surfaces, junctions (tight, gap, adhesion)

squamous, cuboidal, columnar (simple & stratified)
pseudostratified
glands (merocrine, apocrine, holocrine)
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Connective - cells, matrix

Loose Connective
areolar, adipose, reticular
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Dense Connective
regular, irregular, elastic
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Muscular
skeletal smooth, cardiac
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Nervous
neurons-dendrites, cell body, axon
neuroglia
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Others
cartilage (hyaline, elastic, fibrous)
bone (spongy, compact)
blood (RBC, WBC, plasma)
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14. Identify and give the function of the components of connective tissue proper: fibroblast, mast cell,
macrophage, microphages, lymphocytes, adipocytes, mesenchyme/stem cells, melanocytes. Include
the fibers (collagen, elastic and reticular), ground substance and matrix.
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15. Explain the structure and function of the mucous, serous, cutaneous & synovial membranes &
of the superficial, deep and subserous fascia.
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16. Know the functions of the integumentary system

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17. Recognize the structure and function of the layers of thin and thick skin:
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Epidermis – epithelium
stratum corneum
stratum lucidum
stratum granulosum
stratum spinosum (mucosum)
stratum basale (germinativum)
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Dermis - connective tissue
papillary region - dermal papilla
reticular region

Hypodermis - adipose

18. Identify and give the function of accessory organs within the skin: hair (including types and anatomy of
hair), sebaceous glands, apocrine sweat glands, merocrine (eccrine) sweat glands, arrector pili
muscles, and nails (body, bed, groove, fold, hyponychium, eponychium, lunula).

19. Describe the location and function of sebum, sweat, melanin and keratin. Identify the pigments in
skin and hair (carotene, melanin-pheomelanin & eumelanin).

20. Where is Vitamin D3 made? What is it needed for in the body?