• How Do Organisms Regulate Complex Systems Through Chemical Interactions?

Homeostasis is a biological process that maintains a constant internal environment, regardless of what is going on in the external environment. This process ensures the bodily functions and chemicals are kept in a state of balance which in return allows the body to function optimally. Homeostasis requires coordination of the hormonal (endocrine system) and nervous systems, which together regulate the activity of the body’s organ systems. The regulatory activities are constantly adjusted in response to stimuli (change) from both the internal and external environment. A change influenced by the external environment can cause a state in the body that will take it away from the normal, the body will act to counteract this change and return the internal environment back to a steady state. This is negative feedback. Negative feedback has a stabilising effect reducing changes from a set point and returning internal conditions to a steady state. Most body systems e.g. controlling blood glucose levels, obtains homeostasis through negative feedback which makes the negative feedback system critically important in obtaining homeostasis. However there is also positive feedback which is a system that results in the escalation of a response to a stimulus. It causes instability in the system and is used when there is a specific outcome required. Positive feedback ceases once the natural resolution is reached e.g. baby is born, pathogen is destroyed, blood clot forms. This system is not used

1. Assume that you have 100 years of continuous temperature records from your local weather service office. Discuss some of the difficulties you might have trying to determine whether average temperatures have increased during this period.

The Concept of Homeostasis Particularly in Relation to Temperature Control In complex organisms organs are united to form organ systems such as the digestive, reproductive, nervous and muscular systems. The fact that all of the organ systems generally work in a highly coordinated manner suggests strongly that organisms possess distinct physiological control mechanisms that make the coordination of such highly complex processes possible. One of the most interesting features of such control mechanisms is that they are built into the system to regulate it. The controls are self-adjusting and do not require constant monitoring from an outside agent.

How does the homeostatic system work? The homeostatic system works by having either external or internal stimuli that are picked up by receptors(or sensors) that then carry a signal through the nervous system to a CNS, in the case of

There are many components of a homeostatic system which enables it to work at the desired set point where the cells are working optimally which is 5mM (mmolL L-1). Some potential components of a homeostatic system include; nerves, enzymes, cells, secretions (hormones) and glands. A homeostatic system within the body regulates the blood glucose levels within the blood which is important to be maintained at a constant level as glucose is needed within the cells for respiration which is essential for human survival. When the level of glucose in the blood is too high or too low the homeostatic system responds to return it to the set point (where it is working optimally). When there is too much glucose in the blood the sensors detect the change

The stimulus, receptor, control centre, effector and variable are all key components of the Homeostatic System.

Homeostasis; it refers to the maintenance of a steady state in the body (optimum level) through hormonal and nervous mechanisms despite the external environment or fluctuations. It is important as it regulates normal body function. It is required for biochemical processes which work efficiently within a specific temperature and pH range and therefore the body must maintain these conditions. Homeostasis works by detecting change in environment which is then corrected with the appropriate response, this is called negative feedback. Negative feedback is the mechanism that corrects the change in the body. It has three main components in regulation of the human body; these include a receptor to detect change, and control centre and an effector that

Homeostasis is the process through which bodily functions and chemicals are kept in a state of balance (stasis), allowing the body to function optimally. The human body has many systems that must be maintained through processes of chemical and biological checks and balances in order to function properly. The rise and fall of glucose levels in the blood is one of the systems that is under the control of homeostatic regulation processes.

On all living being it operates a system of self- regulation. This system called homeostasis has the ability to maintain internal conditions despite variations in external environment. Homeostasis is maintained by systems that control the functioning of the body called feedback. These mechanisms can be positive or negative feedback.

Homeostasis is an organism’s ability to maintain and regulate a stable internal environment through homeostatic mechanisms involving the sensor, controller, effector and output as well as keeping the environment at equilibrium through negative feedback. Within the body there are several internal systems which have to be controlled through homeostasis, such as; thermoregulation, osmotic balance and glucose regulation. This report will be on blood glucose regulation.

The stimulus response model shown in Figure 1 gives a general sense of the interplay between these components, demonstrating the feedback loop employed in a standard homeostatic response.

A feedback loop is a response mechanism that influences the continued activity of that system, maintaining a stable internal environment, called homeostasis. This is achieved by the control of biological reactions, in which the output forms the input of a new reaction, and eventually links to form a loop.

Homeostasis uses a feedback mechanism called negative feedback meaning that it works from feedback it receives about changes that need to be made. The mechanism responds to the normal range of environmental factors because the receptors sense that a change needs to be

Living organisms survive by consuming and transforming energy and by homeostasis, keeping its internal environment regulated, balanced and stable. To success, they need to constantly keep communication between the outside environment and all the internal organs from all systems, in a continuous cycle of revising and reacting. This communication is made at a cellular level by transmitting electric-chemical signals from cell to cell, to produce physical and chemical reactions.

Our health relies on the body’s internal ability to remain constant even as the environment around us fluctuates. However, sometimes changes occur within our bodies which turns the normal into the abnormal.