LE Human Body Systems
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30 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Homeostasis | the ability of a living thing to keep conditions inside its body constant |
| feedback inhibition | Also called negative feedback, the inhibition of an early step in a series of events by the product of a later step in the series. This has the effect of stopping the series of events when the products are plentiful and the series is unnecesseary. This is the most common form of regulation in the body, controlling such things as enzyme reactions, hormone levels, blood pressure, body temperature, etc. |
| Cardiac muscle | muscle tissue found only in the heart |
| skeletal muscle | Vouluntary, striated muscle that moves bones, works in pairs and is attatched to bones by tendons |
| smooth muscle | involuntary muscle found in internal organs |
| neuron | a cell that is specialized to conduct nerve impulses |
| central nervous system | the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord |
| cerebrum | large part of the brain that controls voluntary action, such as the senses and thinking |
| neurotransmitter | chemical used by a neuron to transmit an impulse across a synapse to another cell |
| hypothalamus | brain structure that acts as a control center for recognition and analysis of hunger, thirst, fatigue, anger, and body temperature |
| reflex arc | sensory receptor, sensory neuron, motor neuron, and effector that are involved in a quick response to a stimulus |
| stimulants | drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions |
| depressants | drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. |
| fetal alcohol syndrome | a medical condition in which body deformation or facial development or mental ability of a fetus is impaired because the mother drank alcohol while pregnant |
| cartilage | A connective tissue that is more flexible than bone and that gives support to some parts of the body |
| ossification | the developmental process of bone formation |
| ligament | attaches bone to bone |
| joint | where two or more bones meet |
| tendon | attaches muscle to bone |
| acetylcholine | a neurotransmitter that triggers muscle contraction and affects learning and memory |
| capillaries | tiny, thin-walled blood vessels that allow the exchange of gases and nutrients between the blood and the cells of the body |
| atherosclerosis | condition in which fatty deposits called plaque build up on the inner walls of the arteries |
| hypertension | a common disorder in which blood pressure remains abnormally high (a reading of 140/90 mm Hg or greater) |
| kidney | organ that removes urea, excess water, and other waste products from the blood and passes them to the ureter |
| nephron | functional unit of the kidney |
| hormones | chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another |
| target cells | cells that have receptors for a particular hormone |
| thyroid | part of the endocrine system that produces hormones that regulate metabolism |
| pituitary | gland that is the master gland of the endocrine system |
| metabolism | set of chemical reactions through which an organism builds up or breaks down materials as it carries out its life processes |
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