PHYSIOLOGY
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COURSE OVERVIEW BELOW | Click to GO TO Fall 2021 syllabus | Click to GO TO Fall 2021 web schedule+links |
This course is an advanced examination of cellular and organ
processes that allow self-regulation, maintenance and reproduction
in organisms, with an evolutionary perspective. Animals will be
the main organisms studied, with an emphasis on mammals including
humans, although other types will be considered. Laboratories
parallel the lectures, include students as test subjects, and a
few animal experiments. Both lecture and lab will include computer
simulations, Internet sites and videos. The course takes an integrative approach that modifies and updates the traditional systems approach, and is organized into 4 broad sections: 1. SELF-REGULATION: the neural, endocrine
and related systems as interacting, whole-body coordinating
systems. |
An Australian butterfly thermoregulating (absorbing solar energy before flight) |
SOME WEB RESOURCES FOR PHYSIOLOGY: These are useful links for finding out about physiological and medical research, and :
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OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE: a.k.a. INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY from GENES TO ENVIRONMENT TEXTBOOK:
ANIMAL
PHYSIOLOGY
by Sherwood, Klandorf, Yancey; 2nd ed., 2013
(Cengage): Physiology is the study of biological function. Many people
automatically think this is the study of discrete organ systems
and how they work. Indeed, most textbooks are organized around
such systems -- Nervous System, Respiratory System, etc. However,
this can be a misleading approach. First, physiology is concerned
with function at all levels, from the molecular to the ecological;
indeed there are subfields called molecular, cellular,
developmental, ecological physiology in addition to the
traditional organ-based areas such as Cardiovascular Physiology.
Second, there are no separate independent systems in an organism;
all have multiple functions that interact with many or most
others. For example, the skin is called the "Integumentary System"
in most texts, but it is an organ involved in thermoregulation,
immunity, reproduction via sexual signaling, excretion and
salt/water balance. Or take the heart--it's not simply a
circulatory pump, but also has a gland that regulates salt and
blood pressure. Third, functions begin at the micromolecular level
and build through a hierarchy to the whole organism. Understanding
of an organism's functions, therefore, requires an ability to
think across artificial boundaries from the molecular level to the
"big picture" level of the whole being. For this reason,
Physiology is often called the integrative biological science.
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