Homeostasis Research Paper
Is It Cold In Here, Or Is It Just Me?
There are so many amazing things that make up and control the human body. Did you ever wonder how our bodies maintain a temperature of 98.6? How our blood sugar remains at normal acceptable levels, or how the calcium content in our blood remains stable? These things and many more are maintained as part of a process called homeostasis. Homeostasis is the body's maintenance of a stable internal environment, and depending on what particular aspect of the body's physiology you are talking about there are corresponding systems to maintain this normal, stable range.
The body maintains homeostasis through a self regulating control system, or "homeostatic mechanism" (Shier) if you will. All of these homeostatic …show more content…
If your temperature rises above 98.6, this is a stimulus. This stimulus is picked up by the first component of the homeostatic mechanism, which you will recall is a receptor. In this case, the receptor is called a thermo receptor. Likewise, if the temperature in your home rises above 98.6 it is detected by a receptor, the thermostat. Next, the body's thermo receptors would send a signal to the control center, the second component of the homeostatic mechanism which is the hypothalamus in the brain. By comparison, in the home system, the thermostat would detect the room temperature and send a signal to the control center, which in this case is the air conditioning unit. Immediately following the signal sent to the hypothalamus from the thermo receptors, the hypothalamus would set into motion the body's correction process to reverse this irregularity by triggering the effectors, the third component in the homeostatic mechanism. In this case the sweat glands would open causing perspiration, the heart rate would rise, and the surface blood vessels would expand bringing more blood to the surface of the skin where heat could dissipate. Likewise, in the home system, the air conditioner would kick on and circulate cold air throughout the home. All of these things are the causes for a response. In the body, heat is dissipated and body temperature begins to return to normal, and in the home, the air conditioner would return the ambient temperature back to the setting of
There are so many amazing things that make up and control the human body. Did you ever wonder how our bodies maintain a temperature of 98.6? How our blood sugar remains at normal acceptable levels, or how the calcium content in our blood remains stable? These things and many more are maintained as part of a process called homeostasis. Homeostasis is the body's maintenance of a stable internal environment, and depending on what particular aspect of the body's physiology you are talking about there are corresponding systems to maintain this normal, stable range.
The body maintains homeostasis through a self regulating control system, or "homeostatic mechanism" (Shier) if you will. All of these homeostatic …show more content…
If your temperature rises above 98.6, this is a stimulus. This stimulus is picked up by the first component of the homeostatic mechanism, which you will recall is a receptor. In this case, the receptor is called a thermo receptor. Likewise, if the temperature in your home rises above 98.6 it is detected by a receptor, the thermostat. Next, the body's thermo receptors would send a signal to the control center, the second component of the homeostatic mechanism which is the hypothalamus in the brain. By comparison, in the home system, the thermostat would detect the room temperature and send a signal to the control center, which in this case is the air conditioning unit. Immediately following the signal sent to the hypothalamus from the thermo receptors, the hypothalamus would set into motion the body's correction process to reverse this irregularity by triggering the effectors, the third component in the homeostatic mechanism. In this case the sweat glands would open causing perspiration, the heart rate would rise, and the surface blood vessels would expand bringing more blood to the surface of the skin where heat could dissipate. Likewise, in the home system, the air conditioner would kick on and circulate cold air throughout the home. All of these things are the causes for a response. In the body, heat is dissipated and body temperature begins to return to normal, and in the home, the air conditioner would return the ambient temperature back to the setting of