PHYSIOLOGY

[ Academic Script ]

Course Name : Zoology

B.Sc. 2nd Year

Paper No. & Title : Z - 201B

Physiology

Topic No. & Title : One

Aim and scope of physiology - Cell
physiology, mammalian physiology,
comparative physiology and
applied physiology

Lecture
Title : Aim & Scope of
Physiology
Physiology
The term physiology originated from the Greek word “physiologikos”
meaning discourse on natural knowledge. Physiology may be defined
as the branch of science devoted to analyzing and gaining an
understanding of the events and activities or the functions of living
systems. Physiology has undergone an evolution of outlook and
methodology in the course of its history. Physiology is changing at
present also because of the rapid advances in technology and
instrumentation in recent years. These advances enabled us to isolate,
identify and experiment on single cells, part of cells, or
macromolecules. Thus basic physiological mechanisms are now placed
on much firmer basis. Recent advances in the analysis and design of
complex engineering and communication system, together with the
development of computers and other mathematical tools have
increased the ability to study the highly organized, interacting and
controlled system of animals. Although it has now become possible to
study the molecular events and analyze the nature of the
organizational levels of animal and their interactions, such
understanding is possible only by having a preliminary knowlwdge of
mathematics and physical sciences to backup zoological knowledge.
The ultimate goal of physiology is to understand, in physical and
chemical terms, the mechanisms that operate in living organisms
ranging from the subcellular to the integrated animal level. However,
not only the whole organism but even a single cell is highly complex.
Therefore, it is convenient to divide the subject of physiology into a
number of subspecialities. These include General and Cell physiology;
organ, organismic and environmental physiology; respiratory,
circulatory, digestive, neuro, endocrine, developmental, reproductive,
behavioural and sensory physiology; and others.
Cell physiology
Cell physiology is the study of life activities of cell-plant cells, animal
cells and microorganisms. The study of these activities has been a
very vital one in the past few years. The present era is to the biologist
what the beginning of the twentieth century was to the physicist, for
never before in the history of biology has so much been achieved in so
short a time towards an understanding of the fundamental problems
of the living cell.

The life activities of the cell might be enumerated as follows :

(1) Nutrition, including in its broadest sense the uptake and
preparation of food and oxygen for use in the cells, the release
of energy in cells and the elimination of wastes produced,
(2) Response to the environment,
(3) Growth and
(4) Reproduction or cell division, and differentiation.

The briefest comparison of plants, animals and microorganisms serves

to show the fundamental similarities of their functions despite
differences in structure. The body of seed plants is composed of cell
organized into a number of complex organs: root, stem, leaf, and
flower and, in the mature plant, the fruit with the developing seed.
Through the root hairs water and nutrient salts pass into the vascular
tissue and are carried through the stem to the leaves. Carbon dioxide
enters through the stomata of the leaves, and during the light of day
carbohydrates are synthesized from the carbon dioxides and water in
the chlorophyll-bearing cells. From the carbohydrates and salts the
plant later synthesizes other compounds such as amino acids, fatty
acids and water soluble vitamins. These manufactured foodstuffs are
then distributed in a solution (the sap) to cells in all parts of the plant,
and the excess may be stored in the seed, fruit, root, and stem or,
less frequently, leaf. The vascular system and the surrounding woody
fibers serve as a skeleton supporting the entire plant.

Although photosynthesis occurs only in some special cells of the seed

plant, all cells of the plant body must be supplied with cell foods, and
they must be freed of cell wastes. Plants grow, using, part of the food
manufactured, and after reaching maturity they reproduce, using
more of it. Growing plants respond to gravity, to light and to
chemicals and others factor in their environment. Thus the root grows
downward in response to gravity, where as the stem grows upward;
the root grows away from the light while the stem grows towards it
(for instance, everyone has seen the sunflower follow the sun). The
response of plants to tactile stimuli is seen in the twining tendrils
which fasten some plants to a support. Movements of plants are
mainly growth movements, and although they are to slow for us to
see, they can be rapidly demonstrated in time lapse photography. The
more rapid turgor movements can be seen in the sensitive plant
Mimosa.

The essential architectural plan of a vertebrate, a triploblastic form,

consists of an outer tube, the body wall, enclosing an inner tube, the
gut, and supported by an internal skeleton consisting of bones. The
head constitutes the anterior end and contains many of the sense
organs or receptors. The trunk, consisting of a body wall and the
internal organs in it, is supported by the appendages. The internal
organs are organized in to various organ systems. For example, the
organ of the digestive system prepare food for use in the body, and
the digested food is absorbed into the blood and is distributed over
the entire body by the organs of the circulatory system. As in the
plant, regardless of the organ in which it is found, the individual cell
requires the same essential cell foods. The respiratory system takes
up the oxygen which is distributed to all cells by way of the circulatory
system. The blood flushes wastes from cells in all parts of the body,
carrying these wastes to the kidneys where they are extracted from
the blood and voided to the exterior. The animal may be considered to
have developed a set of services of supply-digestive, respiratory,
circulatory and excretory-which maintain the cellular environment.
The need supplies of oxygen and food are brought to the cells, and the
wastes of cellular activity are removed from the cells and voided to
the exterior. By way of receptor organs (such as the eyes and ears)
sensitive to light, sound, pressure, gravity, heat or chemicals, the
animals receives information about the environment. Response to the
information so gathered is made possible by the nervous and muscular
system supported by a bony skeletal system. After reaching sexual
maturity the animal reproduces.

As can be seen, the same fundamental activities of life-nutrition,

response, growth and reproduction-are therefore performed by plants
and animals, though in somewhat different ways.

However, complex organs like those found in higher plants and

animals are not necessary for the performance of the fundamental
biological functions in all organisms. Respiration takes place in
bacteria, protozoa and unicellular plants, all without a respiratory
system; likewise, digestion can occur without the aid of a digestive
system and excretion, without the aid of a excretory system.
Microorganisms get food and oxygen directly from the environment
and void their wastes directly to it. They respond to the environment,
and if conditions are favourable, they grow and reproduce.

The common denominator required for the performance of these

fundamental activities of plants, animals and microorganisms is clearly
the cell, not the complex organs and systems which has developed in
multicellular plants and animals. These systems are concerned
primarily with maintaining the internal environment in contact with the
cells of the organisms. It is through the cell of the multicellular animal
and plant that all the flow of matter and flux of energy occur. The cell
is a fundamental unit, not only of structure but also of function of all
living things.

Comparative physiology
Comparative physiology is a sub discipline of physiology that studies
and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds
of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary
physiology and environmental physiology. According to Prosser,
"Comparative Physiology is not so much a defined discipline as a
viewpoint, a philosophy."
History
Originally, physiology focused primarily on human beings, in large part
from a desire to improve medical practices. When physiologists first
began comparing different species it was sometimes out of simple
curiosity to understand how organisms work but also stemmed from a
desire to discover basic physiological principles. This use of specific
organisms convenient to study specific questions is known as
the Krogh Principle.

Methodology

C. Ladd Prosser, a founder of modern comparative physiology,

outlined a broad agenda for comparative physiology in his 1950 edited
volume :
1. To describe how different kinds of animals meet their needs.

This amounts to cataloging functional aspects of biological

diversity, and has recently been criticized as "stamp collecting"
with the suggestion that the field should move beyond that
initial, exploratory phase.

2. The use of physiological information to

reconstruct phylogenetic relationships of organisms.

In principle physiological information could be used just as

morphological information or DNA sequence is used to measure
evolutionary divergence of organisms. In practice, this has
rarely been done, for at least four reasons:

• Physiology doesn't leave many fossil cues,

• It can't be measured on museum specimens,
• It is difficult to quantify as compared with morphology or
DNA sequences, and
• Physiology is more likely to be adaptive than DNA, and so
subject to parallel and convergent evolution, which confuses
phylogenetic reconstruction.
•

3. To elucidate how physiology mediates interactions

between organisms and their environments.

This is essentially physiological ecology or ecological physiology.

4. To identify "model systems" for studying particular physiological

functions.

Examples of this include using squid giant axons to understand

general principles of nerve transmission, using rattlesnake tail
 shaker muscles for measurement of in vivo changes in
metabolites (because the whole animal can be put in an NMR
machine), and the use of ectothermic poikilotherms to study
effects of temperature on physiology.

5. To use the "kind of animal" as an experimental variable.

"While other branches of physiology use such variables as light,

temperature, oxygen tension, and hormone balance,
comparative physiology uses, in addition, species or animal type
as a variable for each function."

25 years later, Prosser put things this way: "I like to think of it
as that method in physiology which uses kind of organism as
one experimental variable."

Comparative physiologists often study organisms that live in

"extreme" environments (e.g., deserts) because they expect to
find especially clear examples of evolutionary adaptation. One
example is the study of water balance in desert-inhabiting
mammals, which have been found to exhibit kidney
specializations.

Similarly, comparative physiologists have been attracted to

"unusual" organisms, such as very large or small ones. As an
example, of the latter, hummingbirds have been studied. As
another example, giraffe have been studied because of their
long necks and the expectation that this would lead to
specializaitons related to the regulation of blood pressure. More
generally, ectothermic vertebrates have been studied to
 determine how blood acid-base balance and pH change as body
temperature changes.

Applied physiology
Applied physiology covers the specialized aspects of study. Under this
are several subjects such as hygiene, dietetics, pharmacology,
agricultural chemistry and many other aspects of practical physiology:
(i) Neurophysiology is an important part of modern psychology. It
deals with the functions of the nerve cells in the brain and the
various parts of the nervous system.
(ii) Endocrinology deals with the study of the different endocrine
glands. This specialized branch of physiology has assumed
considerable importance in recent years. Knowledge of
endocrinology has been helpful in curing many ailments in man
and in other animals.
(iii) Enzymology deals with the study of the structure, chemical
composition and functions of enzymes. The knowledge that has
accumulated due to recent researches has made the
physiologists to create this special branch. It is an active field of
research wherein the energies of physicists, chemists and
biologists are cumulatively directed towards the finding out of
the enzymatic reactions that are being carried on in the cells of
animals.
(iv) Cellular physiology deals with the study of the physiological
activities carried on by the dynamic unit of the body, namely,
the cell.
(v) Insect physiology is another narrow field of specialization
wherein the functions of the different organs of the insects are
studied in great details. This is of great help in agricultural
 economy. This particular branch has assumed considerable
importance in America.
(vi) Mammalian physiology includes the studies on the physiology of
man his domestic animals including others.
(vii) Medical physiology deals with the various health issues arise
with time in human beings.

Several techniques and apparatus have been developed by the

physicists, chemists and engineers which have opened new vistas in
the field of physiology in the 21st century. The most active fields of
physiological research are concerned with the forces and phenomena
concerning the excitation processes; the nature of cell surfaces; the
relationship that exists between the ultramicroscopic structures of life
and the physiological functions; the actual chemistry of
photosynthesis; importance of vitamins and hormones in animals.
Thus the researches in biology make the 21st century a physiological
era for the development of sophisticated equipments required to
regulate physiological anomalies.

Mammalian physiology
Mammalian physiology deals with physiological aspects of systems and
their regulation leading to homeostasis. It includes morphological,
structural, functional and metabolic aspects of mammals. The systems
include digestive, circulatory, excretory, reproductive, respiratory,
immune and nervous system. Their integrative function leading to
body balance is also articulated. For example nervous system co-
operates with immune and endocrine systems. Mammalian physiology
also deals with behavioural, environmental, practical, and operational
and repair in systems of the body of the mammals. Thus mammalian
physiology has a great role in understanding physiological
mechanisms that relate to phenotypic characters of an individual.
Medical physiology
It is a specialized branch where human physiology is well studied for
better health. Many diseases and anomalies occur in man. Name some
are heart ailments, AIDS, Alzheimer, Epilepsy, Brain disease etc. they
are operated and treated accordingly using numerous medical
equipments are also developed.

Medical equipment
Radiography- This imaging modality utilizes a wide beam of x rays for
image acquisition and is the first imaging technique available in
modern medicine.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) -

A magnetic resonance imaging instrument (MRI scanner), or "nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging" scanner as it was originally
known, uses powerful magnets to polarise and excite hydrogen nuclei
(single proton) in water molecules in human tissue, producing a
detectable signal which is spatially encoded, resulting in images of the
body.

Nuclear medicine -
Nuclear medicine encompasses both diagnostic imaging and treatment
of disease, and may also be referred to as molecular medicine or
molecular imaging & therapeutics. Nuclear medicine uses certain
properties of isotopes and the energetic particles emitted from
radioactive material to diagnose or treat various pathology.

Ultrasound -
Medical ultrasonography uses high frequency broadband sound waves
in the megahertz range that are reflected by tissue to varying degrees
to produce (up to 3D) images.
Electrocardiography -
Electrocardiography (ECG) is a transthoracic (across the thorax or
chest) interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period
of time, as detected by electrodes attached to the surface of the skin
and recorded by a device external to the body. The recording
produced by this noninvasive procedure is termed
an electrocardiogram. An ECG is used to measure the heart’s electrical
conduction system. It picks up electrical impulses generated by the
polarization and depolarization of cardiac tissue and translates into a
waveform. The waveform is then used to measure the rate and
regularity of heartbeats, as well as the size and position of the
chambers, the presence of any damage to the heart, and the effects of
drugs or devices used to regulate the heart, such as a pacemaker.
Most ECGs are performed for diagnostic or research purposes
on human hearts, but may also be performed on animals, usually for
diagnosis of heart abnormalities or research.

In vitro fertilization -
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a process by which an
egg is fertilized by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major
treatment for infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive
technology have failed. The process involves monitoring and
stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing ovum or ova (egg
or eggs) from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilize them in
a fluid medium in a laboratory. The fertilized egg (zygote) cultured for
2–6 days in a growth medium and is then transferred to the
patient's uterus with the intention of establishing a successful
pregnancy.
Angiography -
Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to
visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the
body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins and the heart
chambers. This is traditionally done by injecting a radio-
opaque contrast agent into the blood vessel and imaging using X-
ray based techniques such as fluoroscopy.

Physiology is also divided in to Anatomy and physiology, Biochemistry

and physiology, Genetics and physiology, Animal behavior and
physiology, Comparative physiology and Evolution, Cellular and
General Physiology as well as Applied and Experimental physiology
respectively.