Homeostasis

Learn how organisms maintain homeostasis, or a stable internal

environment.

Key points
 Homeostasis is the tendency to resist change in order
to maintain a stable, relatively constant internal
environment.

 Homeostasis typically involves negative feedback

loops that counteract changes of various properties
from their target values, known as set points.

 In contrast to negative feedback loops, positive

feedback loops amplify their initiating stimuli, in other
words, they move the system away from its starting
state.

Introduction
What's the temperature in the room where you're sitting right
∘ ∘
now? My guess would be that it's not exactly 98.6 F/ 37.0 C.
Yet, your body temperature is usually very close to this value.
In fact, if your core body temperature doesn't stay within
∘ ∘
relatively narrow limits—from about 95 F / 35 C
∘ ∘
to 107 F/ 41.7 C —the results can be dangerous or even
deadly.

The tendency to maintain a stable, relatively constant

internal environment is called homeostasis. The body
maintains homeostasis for many factors in addition to
temperature. For instance, the concentration of various ions
in your blood must be kept steady, along with pH and the
concentration of glucose. If these values get too high or low,
you can end up getting very sick.
Homeostasis is maintained at many levels, not just the level
of the whole body as it is for temperature. For instance, the
stomach maintains a pH that's different from that of
surrounding organs, and each individual cell maintains ion
concentrations different from those of the surrounding fluid.
Maintaining homeostasis at each level is key to maintaining
the body's overall function.

So, how is homeostasis maintained? Let's answer this

question by looking at some examples.

Maintaining homeostasis
Biological systems like those of your body are constantly
being pushed away from their balance points. For instance,
when you exercise, your muscles increase heat production,
nudging your body temperature upward. Similarly, when you
drink a glass of fruit juice, your blood glucose goes up.
Homeostasis depends on the ability of your body to detect
and oppose these changes.

Maintenance of homeostasis usually involves negative

feedback loops. These loops act to oppose the stimulus, or
cue, that triggers them. For example, if your body
temperature is too high, a negative feedback loop will act to
bring it back down towards the set point, or target value,
∘ ∘
of 98.6 F/ 37 C.

How does this work? First, high temperature will be detected

by sensors—primarily nerve cells with endings in your skin
and brain—and relayed to a temperature-regulatory control
center in your brain. The control center will process the
information and activate effectors—such as the sweat
glands—whose job is to oppose the stimulus by bringing body
temperature down.
 (a) A negative feedback loop has four basic parts: A stimulus, sensor,
control, and effector. (b) Body temperature is regulated by negative
feedback. The stimulus is when the body temperature exceeds 37
degrees Celsius, the sensors are the nerve cells with endings in the
skin and brain, the control is the temperature regulatory center in the
brain, and the effector is the sweat glands throughout the body.
Image credit: modified from Homeostasis: Figure 1 by OpenStax College, Anatomy &
Physiology, CC BY 4.0

Of course, body temperature doesn't just swing above its

target value—it can also drop below this value. In general,
homeostatic circuits usually involve at least two negative
feedback loops:

 One is activated when a parameter—like body

temperature—is above the set point and is designed to
bring it back down.

 One is activated when the parameter is below the set

point and is designed to bring it back up.

To make this idea more concrete, let's take a closer look at

the opposing feedback loops that control body temperature.
Homeostatic responses in
temperature regulation
If you get either too hot or too cold, sensors in the periphery
and the brain tell the temperature regulation center of your
brain—in a region called the hypothalamus—that your
temperature has strayed from its set point.

For instance, if you’ve been exercising hard, your body

temperature can rise above its set point, and you’ll need to
activate mechanisms that cool you down. Blood flow to your
skin increases to speed up heat loss into your surroundings,
and you might also start sweating so the evaporation of
sweat from your skin can help you cool off. Heavy breathing
can also increase heat loss.

Image showing temperature regulation in response to signals from the

nervous system. When the body temperature falls, the blood vessels
constrict, sweat glands don't produce sweat, and shivering generates
 heat to warm the body. This causes heat to be retained the the body
temperature to return to normal.

When the body temperature is too high, the blood vessels dilate, sweat
glands secrete fluid, and heat is lost from the body. As heat is lost to
the environment, the body temperature returns to normal.
Image credit: Homeostasis: Figure 4 by OpenStax College, Biology, CC BY 4.0

On the other hand, if you’re sitting in a cold room and aren’t

dressed warmly, the temperature center in the brain will
need to trigger responses that help warm you up. The blood
flow to your skin decreases, and you might start shivering so
that your muscles generate more heat. You may also get
goose bumps—so that the hair on your body stands on end
and traps a layer of air near your skin—and increase the
release of hormones that act to increase heat production.

[Can homeostatic responses affect behavior?]

Notably, the set point is not always rigidly fixed and may be a
moving target. For instance, body temperature varies over a
24-hour period, from highest in the late afternoon to lowest in
the early morning. Fever also involves a temporary increase
in the temperature set point so that heat-generating
responses are activated at temperatures higher than the
normal set point.

Disruptions to feedback disrupt

homeostasis.
Homeostasis depends on negative feedback loops. So,
anything that interferes with the feedback mechanisms can—
and usually will! —disrupt homeostasis. In the case of the
human body, this may lead to disease.
Diabetes, for example, is a disease caused by a broken
feedback loop involving the hormone insulin. The broken
feedback loop makes it difficult or impossible for the body to
bring high blood sugar down to a healthy level.

To appreciate how diabetes occurs, let's take a quick look at

the basics of blood sugar regulation. In a healthy person,
blood sugar levels are controlled by two hormones: insulin
and glucagon.

Insulin decreases the concentration of glucose in the blood.

After you eat a meal, your blood glucose levels rise,
triggering the secretion of insulin from β cells in the
pancreas. Insulin acts as a signal that triggers cells of the
body, such as fat and muscle cells, to take up glucose for use
as fuel. Insulin also causes glucose to be converted into
glycogen—a storage molecule—in the liver. Both processes
pull sugar out of the blood, bringing blood sugar levels down,
reducing insulin secretion, and returning the whole system to
homeostasis.
If blood glucose concentration rises above the normal range, insulin is
released, which stimulates body cells to remove glucose from the
blood. If blood glucose concentration drops below this range, glucagon
is released, which stimulates body cells to release glucose into the
blood.
Image credit: modified from The endocrine pancreas: Figure 2 by OpenStax College,
Anatomy & Physiology, CC BY 4.0

Glucagon does the opposite: it increases the concentration

of glucose in the blood. If you haven’t eaten for a while, your
blood glucose levels fall, triggering the release of glucagon
from another group of pancreatic cells, the α cells. Glucagon
acts on the liver, causing glycogen to be broken down into
glucose and released into the bloodstream, causing blood
sugar levels to go back up. This reduces glucagon secretion
and brings the system back to homeostasis.

Diabetes happens when a person's pancreas can't make

enough insulin, or when cells in the body stop responding to
insulin, or both. Under these conditions, body cells don't take
up glucose readily, so blood sugar levels remain high for a
long period of time after a meal. This is for two reasons:

 Muscle and fat cells don't get enough glucose, or fuel.

This can make people feel tired and even cause muscle
and fat tissues to waste away.

 High blood sugar causes symptoms like increased

urination, thirst, and even dehydration. Over time, it can
lead to more serious complications.

Positive feedback loops

Homeostatic circuits usually involve negative feedback loops.
The hallmark of a negative feedback loop is that it
counteracts a change, bringing the value of a parameter—
such as temperature or blood sugar—back towards it set
point.

Some biological systems, however, use positive feedback

loops. Unlike negative feedback loops, positive feedback
loops amplify the starting signal. Positive feedback loops are
usually found in processes that need to be pushed to
completion, not when the status quo needs to be maintained.

A positive feedback loop comes into play during childbirth. In

childbirth, the baby's head presses on the cervix—the bottom
of the uterus, through which the baby must emerge—and
activates neurons to the brain. The neurons send a signal
that leads to release of the hormone oxytocin from the
pituitary gland.

Oxytocin increases uterine contractions, and thus pressure on

the cervix. This causes the release of even more oxytocin and
produces even stronger contractions. This positive feedback
loop continues until the baby is born.

Normal childbirth is driven by a positive feedback loop. A positive

feedback loop results in a change in the body’s status, rather than a
return to homeostasis. The feedback loop includes (the loops is drawn
clockwise): * Nerve impulses from the cervix being transmitted to the
brain * The brain stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete oxytocin *
Oxytocin carried in bloodstream to uterus * Oxytocin stimulates uterine
contractions and pushes baby toward cervix * Head of baby pushes
against cervix * and so on in a loop!
Image credit: Homeostasis: Figure 2 by OpenStax College, Anatomy & Physiology, CC BY
4.0