What is a reflex arc?
Answer: A rapid, automatic pathway: receptor → sensory neuron → spinal cord (interneuron) → motor neuron → effector.
Explanation
Bypasses the brain for speed.
Explore · Flashcard deck
Anatomy and Physiology: Body Systems Overview (University)
NervousImmuneUrinaryDigestiveRespiratoryCardiovascularEndocrineOrganizationMuscularIntegumentary & skeletal
Shared from Quizcard. Flip through the cards below, or copy the deck to edit and study it in your own account — free.
Space flips · arrows move · Esc exits
Nervous
What is the function of myelin?
Answer: It insulates axons and speeds up conduction of nerve impulses.
Explanation
Made by oligodendrocytes in the CNS and Schwann cells in the PNS.
What are the four lobes of the cerebrum and a key function of each?
Answer: Frontal (reasoning, movement), parietal (touch, spatial sense), temporal (hearing, memory), occipital (vision).
Explanation
The cerebellum coordinates movement and balance.
Central vs peripheral nervous system?
Answer: CNS: brain and spinal cord. PNS: all nerves outside the CNS.
Explanation
The PNS has sensory (afferent) and motor (efferent) divisions.
Immune
Innate vs adaptive immunity?
Answer: Innate: fast, nonspecific defenses (skin, inflammation, phagocytes). Adaptive: slower, specific responses by B cells (antibodies) and T cells with memory.
Explanation
Vaccines train adaptive immunity.
Urinary
What does ADH (antidiuretic hormone) do?
Answer: It makes the kidneys reabsorb more water, producing concentrated urine.
Explanation
Released by the posterior pituitary when the body is dehydrated.
What is the nephron?
Answer: The functional unit of the kidney that filters blood and forms urine.
Explanation
Each kidney has about a million nephrons.
Digestive
What are the main functions of the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine?
Answer: Stomach: mechanical and chemical digestion (acid, pepsin). Small intestine: most digestion and nutrient absorption. Large intestine: water absorption and feces formation.
Explanation
The liver produces bile; the pancreas supplies digestive enzymes.
Respiratory
What muscle drives inhalation?
Answer: The diaphragm; when it contracts and flattens, the chest cavity expands and air flows in.
Explanation
Exhalation at rest is passive.
Where does gas exchange occur in the lungs?
Answer: In the alveoli, where oxygen diffuses into the blood and carbon dioxide diffuses out.
Explanation
Thin walls and huge surface area make diffusion efficient.
Cardiovascular
What does hemoglobin do?
Answer: It binds oxygen in red blood cells for transport to tissues.
Explanation
Each hemoglobin molecule carries up to four O2 molecules.
What do systolic and diastolic blood pressure represent?
Answer: Systolic: pressure when the ventricles contract. Diastolic: pressure when they relax.
Explanation
Normal is around 120/80 mmHg.
Arteries vs veins?
Answer: Arteries carry blood away from the heart under high pressure; veins return blood to the heart and have valves.
Explanation
Pulmonary arteries are the main arteries carrying deoxygenated blood.
Trace the path of blood through the heart.
Answer: Right atrium → right ventricle → pulmonary artery → lungs → pulmonary veins → left atrium → left ventricle → aorta → body.
Explanation
The right side pumps to the lungs; the left side to the body.
Endocrine
What do the adrenal glands produce?
Answer: Cortex: cortisol and aldosterone. Medulla: epinephrine and norepinephrine.
Explanation
Cortisol is the long-term stress hormone; epinephrine the short-term one.
What is the role of the pituitary gland?
Answer: The 'master gland' that releases hormones controlling other glands (TSH, ACTH, FSH, LH, GH, prolactin) and stores ADH and oxytocin.
Explanation
Controlled by the hypothalamus.
What does insulin do, and which organ makes it?
Answer: It lowers blood glucose by promoting uptake into cells; made by beta cells of the pancreas.
Explanation
Glucagon from alpha cells raises blood glucose.
What is a hormone?
Answer: A chemical messenger secreted into the blood by a gland that acts on target cells with matching receptors.
Explanation
Slower but longer-lasting than nervous signals.
Organization
What are the levels of structural organization in the body?
Answer: Chemical, cellular, tissue, organ, organ system, organism.
Explanation
Each level builds on the one below.
What are the anatomical terms for front/back and toward the head/feet?
Answer: Anterior (ventral) / posterior (dorsal); superior (cranial) / inferior (caudal).
Explanation
Medial is toward the midline, lateral away from it.
Negative vs positive feedback?
Answer: Negative feedback reverses a change (body temperature regulation); positive feedback amplifies it (labor contractions, blood clotting).
Explanation
Negative feedback is far more common.
What is homeostasis?
Answer: The maintenance of a stable internal environment despite external changes.
Explanation
Most homeostatic mechanisms use negative feedback.
What are the four primary tissue types?
Answer: Epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous tissue.
Explanation
Epithelial covers surfaces; connective supports; muscle moves; nervous signals.
Muscular
What triggers skeletal muscle contraction at the neuromuscular junction?
Answer: Acetylcholine released by the motor neuron binds receptors on the muscle fiber, causing an action potential.
Explanation
Calcium is then released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
What is the sliding filament theory?
Answer: Muscle contraction occurs when myosin heads pull actin filaments toward the center of the sarcomere, shortening it.
Explanation
Requires ATP and calcium ions.
What are the three types of muscle tissue?
Answer: Skeletal (voluntary, striated), cardiac (involuntary, striated, branched), smooth (involuntary, non-striated).
Explanation
Only skeletal muscle is under conscious control.
Integumentary & skeletal
What do osteoblasts and osteoclasts do?
Answer: Osteoblasts build bone; osteoclasts break it down.
Explanation
Bone remodeling balances the two; calcitonin and parathyroid hormone regulate them.
Axial vs appendicular skeleton?
Answer: Axial: skull, vertebral column, rib cage (80 bones). Appendicular: limbs and girdles (126 bones).
Explanation
Adults have 206 bones in total.
What are the functions of the skeletal system?
Answer: Support, protection, movement, mineral storage, and blood cell production (hematopoiesis).
Explanation
Red marrow produces blood cells.
What are the three layers of the skin?
Answer: Epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis (subcutaneous layer).
Explanation
The epidermis is avascular; the dermis contains vessels, nerves, and glands.
Make your own deck like this
Upload a PDF, Word doc, or slides and Quizcard writes the cards for you, or build them by hand. Free to start, no credit card required.