Anatomy & Physiology

From the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Study of the functioning of living organisms or their constituent tissues or cells.

Or labor, delivery of the fetus by the viviparous mammal. Birth is also known as parturition.

Cessation of all life (metabolic) processes. Death may involve the organism as a whole (somatic death) or may be confined to cells and tissues within the organism.

Process by which food eaten by an animal is broken down mechanically, and chemically by enzymes, mostly in the stomach and intestines, to make the nutrients available for absorption and cell metabolism.

In the body, all the organs and tissues involved in the digestion of food. In animals, these consist of the mouth, stomach, intestines, and their associated glands.

Body control system composed of a group of glands that maintain a stable internal environment by producing chemical regulatory substances called hormones.

Periodic flow of blood and cells from the lining of the uterus in humans and most other primates, occurring about every 28 days in women.

Network of specialized tissue that controls actions and reactions of the body and its adjustment to the environment.

Elongated cell that transmits information rapidly between different parts of the body, the basic functional unit of the nervous system.

Process that occurs inside cells in which carbohydrate, particularly glucose, is broken down to release energy that the cell can use.

Group of organs of the body concerned with excretion of urine, that is, water and the waste products of metabolism.

The internal temperature of a living organism.

Sum of all biochemical processes involved in life. Two subcategories of metabolism are anabolism, the building up of complex organic molecules from simpler precursors, and catabolism, the breakdown of complex substances into simpler molecules, often accompanied by the release of energy.

French physiologist noted for his pioneering work in experimental physiology and pharmacology.

Italian physiologist: observed that muscles contracted on contact with dissimilar metals. This led to the galvanic cell and the electrical theory of muscle control by nerves.

Swiss physiologist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1949 with Portuguese neurologist Antonio Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz for discovering what function certain parts of the brain had in determining and coordinating the activities of internal organs.

U.S. physiologist, born in Germany, noted especially for his pioneering work on artificial parthenogenesis.

Russian physiologist and physician, best known for his discovery of the conditioned reflex; Nobel prize for medicine 1904.

Czech physiologist who made pioneering studies of vision, the functioning of the brain and heart, pharmacology, embryology, and cells and tissue.

Italian physiologist, noted especially for his experimental studies of microorganisms and his work on animal reproduction and digestion.