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Chapter 1
Major Themes of Anatomy and Physiology
1.1 The Scope of Anatomy and Physiology
Anatomy – study of form
• Examine structure of human body
o Inspection – looking at appearance
o Palpation – feeling with hands
o Auscultation – listening to sounds made by the body
o Percussion – tapping and feeling and listening for abnormalities
o Dissection – cutting and separation of tissues
• Comparative anatomy – study of more than one species for
differences/similarities and evolutionary trends
• Medical Imaging Techniques
o Radiology – medical imaging
o Gross anatomy – structure that can be seen with a naked eye
o Histology – microscopic anatomy
o Histopathology – microscopic examination of tissues for disease
o Cytology – study of cells
o Ultrastructure – fine detail, electron microscope
Physiology – study of function
• Comparative physiology – study of how different species have resolved
issues such as water balance, respiration, reproduction
1.2 The Origins of Biomedical Science
The Greek and Roman Legacy – Hippocrates and Aristotle, Galen
The Birth of Modern Medicine
1.3 Scientific Method
Inductive Method
• Making numerous generalizations until one is confident in drawing
generalizations and predictions for them
• Proven beyond reasonable doubt
Hypothetico-deductive method
• Falsifiability – ability to specify what evidence would prove something wrong
Experimental design
o Sample size
o Controls
o Psychosomatic effects – effects of the subject’s state of mind on his
physiology – placebos used
o Experimental bias – controlled by double-blind method
o Statistical testing
• Peer review
• Facts, Laws, Theories
o Fact – independently verifiable by trained person
o Law of nature – generalization about predictable ways in which
matter and energy behave
o Theory – explanatory statement derived from facts, laws, and
confirmed hypotheses
o Laws describe universe, not govern
1.4 Human Origins and Adaptations
• Change in genetic composition
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Evolution, Selection, and Adaptations
• Natural selection – some individuals within a species have evolutionary
advantage
• Selection pressures – natural forces that promote reproductive success
• Adaptations – evolves as a result of natural selection
• Model – animal species selected for research on a particular problem
Basic Primate Adaptations
• Opposable thumbs
• Stereoscopic vision (depth perception)
• Larger brains
• Bipedalism – standing and walking on two legs
• Color vision
• Mobile shoulders
• Evolutionary (darwinian) medicine – traces some of our diseases and
imperfections to our evolutionary past
1.5 Human Structure
Hierarchy of complexity - reductionism
• Organism – single complete individual
• Organ system – group of organs with a unique collective function
o CIRRUS MENDL: circulatory, integumentary, reproductive,
respiratory, urinary, skeletal, muscular, endocrine, nervous, digestive,
lymphatic
• Organ – structure composed of two or more tissue types that work together
to carry out a function
• Tissue – similar cells and cell products that form a region of an organ
• Cells, Organelles, Molecules, Atoms
Reductionism – top-down
Holism – “emergent properties” of the whole organism that cannot be predicted
from separate parts of body (bottom-up)
1.6 Human Function
Characteristics of life
• Organization
• Cellular composition
• Metabolism – catabolism, anabolism, excretion
• Responsiveness/Movement – to stimuli
• Homeostasis
• Development – cell differentiation and growth
• Reproduction
• Evolution
Physiological variation
• Sex, age, diet, weight, physical activity
• Reference man – healthy 22-yr old weighing 70 kg, mean ambient
temperature of 20°C, light physical activity, 2800 kcal consumption/day
• Reference woman – same except 58 kg weight and 2000 consumption/day
• Failure to consider: overmedication or wrong treatment of women because
of research done on men
Homeostasis and Negative Feedback
• Maintaining internally stable conditions – dynamic equilibrium
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Chapter 1
Major Themes of Anatomy and Physiology
1.1 The Scope of Anatomy and Physiology
Anatomy – study of form
• Examine structure of human body
o Inspection – looking at appearance
o Palpation – feeling with hands
o Auscultation – listening to sounds made by the body
o Percussion – tapping and feeling and listening for abnormalities
o Dissection – cutting and separation of tissues
• Comparative anatomy – study of more than one species for
differences/similarities and evolutionary trends
• Medical Imaging Techniques
o Radiology – medical imaging
o Gross anatomy – structure that can be seen with a naked eye
o Histology – microscopic anatomy
o Histopathology – microscopic examination of tissues for disease
o Cytology – study of cells
o Ultrastructure – fine detail, electron microscope
Physiology – study of function
• Comparative physiology – study of how different species have resolved
issues such as water balance, respiration, reproduction
1.2 The Origins of Biomedical Science
The Greek and Roman Legacy – Hippocrates and Aristotle, Galen
The Birth of Modern Medicine
1.3 Scientific Method
Inductive Method
• Making numerous generalizations until one is confident in drawing
generalizations and predictions for them
• Proven beyond reasonable doubt
Hypothetico-deductive method
• Falsifiability – ability to specify what evidence would prove something wrong
Experimental design
o Sample size
o Controls
o Psychosomatic effects – effects of the subject’s state of mind on his
physiology – placebos used
o Experimental bias – controlled by double-blind method
o Statistical testing
• Peer review
• Facts, Laws, Theories
o Fact – independently verifiable by trained person
o Law of nature – generalization about predictable ways in which
matter and energy behave
o Theory – explanatory statement derived from facts, laws, and
confirmed hypotheses
o Laws describe universe, not govern
1.4 Human Origins and Adaptations
• Change in genetic composition
Downloaded by madiba South Africa stuvia ()
, lOMoARcPSD|44532475
Evolution, Selection, and Adaptations
• Natural selection – some individuals within a species have evolutionary
advantage
• Selection pressures – natural forces that promote reproductive success
• Adaptations – evolves as a result of natural selection
• Model – animal species selected for research on a particular problem
Basic Primate Adaptations
• Opposable thumbs
• Stereoscopic vision (depth perception)
• Larger brains
• Bipedalism – standing and walking on two legs
• Color vision
• Mobile shoulders
• Evolutionary (darwinian) medicine – traces some of our diseases and
imperfections to our evolutionary past
1.5 Human Structure
Hierarchy of complexity - reductionism
• Organism – single complete individual
• Organ system – group of organs with a unique collective function
o CIRRUS MENDL: circulatory, integumentary, reproductive,
respiratory, urinary, skeletal, muscular, endocrine, nervous, digestive,
lymphatic
• Organ – structure composed of two or more tissue types that work together
to carry out a function
• Tissue – similar cells and cell products that form a region of an organ
• Cells, Organelles, Molecules, Atoms
Reductionism – top-down
Holism – “emergent properties” of the whole organism that cannot be predicted
from separate parts of body (bottom-up)
1.6 Human Function
Characteristics of life
• Organization
• Cellular composition
• Metabolism – catabolism, anabolism, excretion
• Responsiveness/Movement – to stimuli
• Homeostasis
• Development – cell differentiation and growth
• Reproduction
• Evolution
Physiological variation
• Sex, age, diet, weight, physical activity
• Reference man – healthy 22-yr old weighing 70 kg, mean ambient
temperature of 20°C, light physical activity, 2800 kcal consumption/day
• Reference woman – same except 58 kg weight and 2000 consumption/day
• Failure to consider: overmedication or wrong treatment of women because
of research done on men
Homeostasis and Negative Feedback
• Maintaining internally stable conditions – dynamic equilibrium
Downloaded by madiba South Africa stuvia ()
