UNIT 1A: INTRODUCTION TO PHYSIOLOGY

& HOMEOSTASIS
BIOL2410 D01 Lecture Notes
 A) Physiology - Overview
In this unit you will be introduced to physiology as a
science, the concept or homeostasis, the importance of the
control systems to homeostasis, and the biomolecules that
are important to the study of how living organisms,
including humans, function.
1. What is physiology?
a. Definition
b. Physiology is an integrative science.
c. Why study physiology?
d. Core concepts (themes) in physiology.
2. How is the human body organized?
a. Levels of organization
b. Major organ systems.
c. Body fluid compartments Original art by former BIOL1410/1412 teaching
assistant, Danielle Trudeau (used with permission)
A) Physiology - Overview
3. Homeostasis
4. Control systems (Regulation of Homeostasis)
a. What are the main parts of a control system?
b. Local Control.
c. Reflex control
d. Response Loops
e. Feedback Loops.
i. Negative feedback loops
ii. Positive feedback loops

5. The Science of Physiology – understanding

physiological data and graphs.

Original art by former BIOL1410/1412 teaching

assistant, Danielle Trudeau (used with permission)
 B) What is Physiology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkfunphAKqo&t=15s

1. Definition:
a. From the ancient Greek “phusiologia” and Latin
“physiologia” meaning “natural philosophy”, or
the “knowledge of nature” (similar to the
etymology for physics).
b. Modern definition: the branch of biology
involving the study of the normal functions of
living organisms and their parts (cells, tissues,
organs, organ systems). This includes all of the
chemical and physical processes involved in cell,
tissue, organ and organismal function that are Fig. 1.1
necessary to maintain life.
2. Physiology is an integrative science:
a. Incorporates knowledge from biology, chemistry
and physics to understand the functions of life.
B) What is Physiology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkfunphAKqo&t=15s

b. Structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) are interrelated.

Function can dictate structure and vice versa.
Ø E.g: the shape of proteins determines their function. Collagen is a fibrous
protein found in many connective tissues (including those in the skin). Its
rope-like shape gives strength to those tissues to prevent them from
tearing.
c. Living organisms possess emergent properties that result from the
non-linear interaction between all of the parts (in the case of
physiology: cells, organs, organ systems).
i. A property that the whole organ/system has, that the individual parts do
not. i.e. the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
ii. E.g. Individual cardiac muscle cells are not able to pump blood. Some
contract and others produce signals for contraction, but individually
none of them can pump blood. However, when they come together in a
particular arrangement and combine with connective tissue, and
epithelial tissue to form the heart, the heart is capable of pumping
blood.
B) What is Physiology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkfunphAKqo&t=15s

3. Why study Physiology?

a. Provides a fundamental understanding of what life is
(biologically) and how it works.
b. Leads to treatment of diseases in humans and other organisms
(medical, veterinary and agricultural applications) –
pathophysiology.
c. Helps us understand how organisms, including humans, cope
with environmental stressors. This is particularly important in
light of the changing climate and the impact that humans can
have on the biotic and abiotic environments.
d. Can inform: the development of new technologies (artificial
intelligence, robotics, etc.), drug discovery, manned space
exploration,
B) What is Physiology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkfunphAKqo&t=15s

4. Core concepts (themes) in Physiology:

a. Structure and function are closely related
Ø Most physiological functions can be traced back to molecular
interactions within and between cells. Cellular processes then affect
how tissues and organs function.
Ø Compartmentalization: Tissues (epithelial tissues) separate the
external environment from the internal environment of the body; cell
membranes separate cells from surrounding fluids; the body can be
divided
b. Living organisms need energy
Ø Most of the molecular and chemical processes in the body that
regulate everything from growth and reproduction, to skeletal
muscle movements to the movement of molecules across cell
membranes are powered by the energy molecule ATP (adenosine
triphosphate; and to a lesser extent by GTP, guanosine
triphosphate).
B) What is Physiology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkfunphAKqo&t=15s

4. Core concepts (themes) in Physiology:

c. Information flow coordinates body functions
Ø Cell to cell communication – chemical (paracrines, hormones,
neurohormones, neurotransmitters) or electrical (ionic) signals
Ø Occurs locally (between neighboring cells) and over long distances
(e.g. from the brain to another organ).
d. Homeostasis
Ø Control systems regulate the internal environment to stay within a
narrow range of conditions.
 C) How is the Human Body Organized?
1. Levels of Organization
a. Chemical Level
Ø Atoms and molecules important for life. E.g. hydrogen and oxygen atoms combine to form water molecules.
b. Cellular Level
Ø Molecules combine to form organelles, which form cells.
Ø Cells are the basic structural and functional units of the human body (and of all living things).
c. Tissue Level – a group of structurally similar cells performing a common function.
Ø Four types:
i. Epithelial tissue
ii. Connective tissue
iii. Muscle Tissue
iv. Nervous Tissue

Fig. 1.1
 C) How is the Human Body Organized?
1. Levels of Organization
d. Organ Level
Ø Two or more tissues working together to perform a common function
Ø E.g. the stomach contains all 4 major tissue types working together to perform the function of digestion.
e. Organ System Level
Ø Several related organs working together for a common purpose
Ø E.g. Urinary System: Kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra work together to perform waste elimination.
f. Organism Level
Ø All organ systems function together to maintain life.

Fig. 1.1
C) How is the Human Body Organized?
2. Organ Systems – there are 10
a. Circulatory (cardiovascular) – distributes materials by
pumping though blood vessels
b. Digestive (gastrointestinal) - takes up nutrients (including
water) and removes wastes
c. Endocrine – coordinates body functions
d. Immune (includes lymphatic system) – protects from foreign
substances
e. Integumentary (skin) – protection from external environment
f. Musculoskeletal – support and body movement
Fig. 1.2
g. Nervous – coordination of body function
*Note: the connections between the
h. Reproductive – produces gametes (eggs and sperm) various systems. The interior of some
organs (like those of the digestive or
i. Respiratory (pulmonary) – exchanges gases (O2 and CO2)
respiratory tract) are part of the external
j. Urinary (renal) – controls water and electrolyte balance; environment, so materials must be able to
pass trough their epithelial linings to enter
removes wastes
the body.
C) How is the Human Body Organized?
3. Body Fluid Compartments – body fluids
consist of water and dissolved solutes
(ions, nutrients, wastes, proteins, etc.). The
goal of many homeostatic mechanisms is
to maintain the composition of these
different fluid compartments by allowing
exchange of molecules between them.
a. Extracellular fluids (ECF) – fluid outside of
cells
i. Interstitial Fluid (ISF) – fluid surrounding cells
in tissues
ii. Intravascular Fluid (IVF) – fluid contained in
blood vessels (plasma) or lymphatic vessels
(lymph)
b. Intracellular fluid (ICF) – fluid inside of cells Fig. 1.5
D) Homeostasis
Ø Homeostasis is the central concept in physiology. It is
defined as the ability of the body to maintain a relatively
constant internal environment despite changes in the
external environment.
Ø The cells of the body can only survive in a narrow range
of conditions (physiological limits). The body’s organs
and organ systems function together to maintain this
narrow range and therefore keep cells alive.
Ø Disease is a failure to maintain homeostasis. Medical interventions
can help to restore homeostasis and may help to prevent
damage to organs/tissues.
Ø E.g. Diabetes mellitus = abnormally high blood sugar resulting from a
failure of the body to compensate for high blood sugar levels.

Ø Concept first described in 1800’s by Claude Bernard who

called it “la fixité du milieu intérieur”, meaning “the fixed
nature of the internal environment” Fig. 1.4
D) Homeostasis
Ø While the concept was described in the 1800s,
homeostasis as a word was first used by Walter Canon
in 1929, when he correctly identified many of the
variables in the body that are regulated. These include:
1. Temperature
2. pH
3. Blood gases (O2 and CO2)
4. Salinity (concentrations of ions and other solutes)
5. Nutrients
6. Etc.
Ø Homeostasis does not mean:
1. Equilibrium between the ECF and ICF (the composition of
each is quite different, and can vary within physiological
limits)
2. “Never changing”
Fig. 1.4
D) Homeostasis Steady state disequilibrium

Ø Homeostasis does mean:

1. A dynamic steady state between the ICF and ECF.
Ø materials are constantly moving between the two compartments,
but under normal conditions, the composition of each
compartment, while different from one another (disequilibrium), is
relatively stable.
2. That internal conditions/parameters can change (and do so
often) in response to environmental challenges. Fig. 1.7
3. That regulated variables have a range of values, not a single
value (e.g. normal body temperature has a range of 35.5 –
37.7○C). The normal range for the value is the setpoint within
which the body’s systems will not initiate compensation.
Ø Because homeostasis allows for small fluctuations in
internal conditions around a setpoint, some physiologists
prefer to use the term “homeodynamics” instead of
”homeostasis” (even in homeostasis the system is not
static).
Adapted from Fig. 1.11
D) Homeostasis
Ø Homeostasis depends on Mass Balance.
1. Law of Mass Balance – involves:
a. Load – the amount of substance (e.g. water, Na+.
Ca++, glucose, etc).
Ø Remains constant if gains of the substance are
offset by losses of the substance.
b. Gains – adds to load from two sources:
i. Enters the body from the outside (e.g. ingestion)
ii. Produced metabolically by the body.
c. Loss – subtracts from load from two sources:
i. Excretion (urine, feces, sweat, etc.)
ii. Metabolically removed from the body
Ø e.g. glucose is metabolized to CO2 and water –
a loss of glucose, but a metabolic gain of CO2
and water).
Fig. 1.6
Ø What organs would help the body to maintain
the mass balance of CO2 and water after the
gain that occurred in this example?
E) Control Systems (Regulation of Homeostasis)
Ø Control systems help to maintain homeostasis by: Fig. 1.4
1. Monitoring/detecting changes to regulated
variables (e.g. temperature, pH, blood pressure,
etc.) that result in a loss of homeostasis.
Control
Ø Regulated variables in the body’s internal environment Systems
have a particular setpoint range (optimum values that
will not activate compensation).
2. Initiating mechanisms that adjust regulated
variables to compensate for the change.

Ø Primary components of a simple control system: Fig. 1.8

1. Input signal (usually initiated by a sensor/receptor)
2. Integrating center – integrates incoming input
signals and initiates the appropriate response
3. Output signal – creates the appropriate response
E) Control Systems (Regulation of Homeostasis)
Ø Control systems can act locally (short distance) or over
long distances
1. Local control – within a cell or tissue Fig. 1.8
Ø E.g. In response to low O2 levels in tissues (input signal),
endothelial cells lining the blood vessels (sensor and
integrating center) release nitric oxide (output signal),
which acts on the smooth muscle cells of the vessel
(effector/target), causing them to relax. Smooth muscle
relaxation causes the blood vessel to dilate, which increases
blood flow and oxygen delivery to the tissue (response).
2. Long distance (reflex) control – involves signaling to
distant cells using the nervous system or endocrine
system (the body’s major control systems)

Fig. 1.9
E) Control Systems (Regulation of Homeostasis)
Ø Components of a long distance (reflex) pathway – also known as
a response loop:
1. Stimulus – change in the regulated variable to a value outside of

Response loop (includes all steps from stimulus to response)

the setpoint range.
2. Sensor/Receptor – detects changes in a regulated variable
3. Input Signal – relays info about the change from sensor/receptor
4. Integrating center – integrates input signals; determines and
initiates appropriate output signal for response. In nervous system
– brain/spinal cord; in endocrine system = endocrine gland).
5. Output signal – signal sent from integrating center to adjust activity
of the effector/target (neural signal/neurotransmitter or a
hormone).
6. Effector/target – cells/organs/tissues whose activity will be modified
to produce the appropriate response. Typically muscles or glands.
7. Response – causes a change/adjustment of the regulated variable
Fig. 1.10
E) Control Systems (Regulation of Homeostasis)
Ø Feedback loops modulate the response loop
1. Negative feedback loops (most common in the body)
a. are homeostatic – stabilize the variable (i.e. the response
created by the effector returns the variable to within the
optimal value range which shuts off the response loop).
b. Restores homeostasis but cannot prevent the initial change
c. Example: Body temperature rises to 40C on a hot day à
temperature receptors in the skin (sensor) and
hypothalamus (integration center) detect the change. The
hypothalamus sends neural signals (output signals) to the
sweat glands (target/effector) à which will secrete sweat Fig. 1.12
onto the surface of the skin to increase evaporative cooling
Note: in flow chart
and lower body temperature (response). The new lower diagrams/maps, two
body temperature then becomes the new stimulus, and will perpendicular lines
shut off the response loop once the temperature is back in instead of of an arrow
mean “to stop” or
the optimal range. signal to be shut off.
“inhibits”
E) Control Systems (Regulation of Homeostasis)
Ø Feedback loops modulate the response loop
Fig. 1.12
2. Positive feedback loops
a. usually described as non-homeostatic (although there are several
examples that occur in the body, without which homeostasis might
not be maintained).
b. Amplify (or reinforce) the stimulus, causing the regulated variable to
get further away from the normal value.
Fig. 1.13
c. Requires an outside signal to be shut off.
d. Example: Labor and Childbirth
Ø Cervical stretch stimulates the posterior pituitary gland to release
oxytocin (through neural pathways as part of the Ferguson reflex).
à initiates uterine contractions, which push the baby down into
the cervix, causing it to stretch more. More stretch à more
oxytocin à more uterine contractions à etc.
Ø Result = continuously rising levels of oxytocin & stronger and
more frequent contractions
Ø Endpoint = birth of baby.(no more cervical stretch).
E) Control Systems (Regulation of Homeostasis)
Ø Feedforward Control (Anticipatory Responses)
1. A change in a regulated variable is anticipated based on a small
stimulus.
2. The anticipation allows the body to prevent a loss of
homeostasis.
3. Examples:
a. Sight, smell or thought of food triggers salivation and hydrochloric
acid release by the stomach (anticipation of food entering the
mouth/stomach).
b. Increased respiratory rate at the the start of exercise, before a
change in blood gasses has occurred (anticipating that more O2 will
be needed and more CO2 will need to be eliminated).
c. Can also be learned or behavioural (when it is -40C in Winnipeg, we
put on several layers of clothes and a warm jacket, anticipating and
preventing our body temperature from getting too low).
F) Science of Physiology
ØPhysiology is approached from both teleological and mechanistic ways of thinking.
1. Teleological approach – considers the adaptive significance of a physiological event and answers questions
like “why does this happen”.
Ø E.g.1: Why do humans shiver? Answer: to elevate a low body temperature.
Ø E.g.2: Why do red blood cells transport oxygen? Answer: Cells need oxygen to make ATP.
2. Mechanistic approach – answers questions about how a particular physiological event takes place and
looks at the cause and effect sequences of physical and chemical processes that lead to its occurrence (i.e.
what is the mechanism of action).
Ø E.g.1: How do humans shiver? Answer: low core body temperature is detected by thermoreceptors (sensors) in the
skin and hypothalamus. Neural signal travels through several brain regions (we could name them all and the
neurotransmitters used), and then down into the ventral horn of the spinal cord where lower (alpha) motor neurons
are activated. Lower (alpha) motor neurons release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine onto skeletal muscle cells,
causing them to contract. The muscle contraction that results generates heat. Leading to an increase in body
temperature. (For more detail, we could talk about how skeletal muscle cells contract at a molecular level and how
heat is produced as a by-product of that contraction.)
ØE.g.2: How do red blood cells transport oxygen? Answer: Oxygen binds to each of the 4 hemoglobin molecules in
red blood cells.”
F) Science of Physiology
ØPhysiological research that asks both teleological and
mechanistic questions is critically important. Clinically, doctors
nurses and other healthcare providers read the scientific
literature to help them diagnose and treat their patients based
on the best evidence available.
ØMany physiological and other scientific studies look at the
effect one variable has on another. For example the effect of
artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, stevia, etc.) used in
coffee on blood glucose levels.
Ø Key Elements of a well designed experiment:
1. Hypothesis – logical proposed explanation for an event based
on limited data/observations.
2. Independent variable – is the cause, in “cause and effect”. It can
be manipulated by the researcher, but its value is not
dependent on other variables in the study. – in our example,
the different sweeteners.
F) Science of Physiology
ØKey Elements of a well designed experiment:
3. Dependent variable – is the effect in “cause and effect”.
Its value is dependent on the independent variable. – in
our example, blood glucose levels.
4. Experimental Control – duplicate of experimental group,
but the independent variable does not change. – in our
example – a control group would be the same group of
individuals having coffee with no artificial sweetener.
5. Data Collection and Analysis – Collect data points – in our
example, test blood glucose levels after drinking a cup of
coffee with each sweetener. Graph and statistically
analyze data.
6. Replication – Repeat the experiment – in our example do
the trials again with the same group of people and with
others.
F) Science of Physiology
Ø Graphing
Ø Graphs are important visual way to summarize
and relay a lot of data succinctly.
ØWhen creating a graph:
1. Independent variable on the horizontal X-
axis.
2. Dependent variable on the vertical Y-axis
Ø Types of graphs:
1. Bar graphs – independent variables are
distinct entities
2. Line graphs – independent variable is a
continuous phenomenon (e.g. time)
3. Scatter plots – show relationship between
two variables.
Which of the 3 graph types shown here would be the
best way to present the sweetener/blood glucose data? Fig. 1.15