Anatomy flashcards, generated for you.

The study of body structure and organization of living organisms, including the arrangement and relationships of body parts.

Gross (macroscopic) anatomy—structures visible to the naked eye; and histology (microscopic anatomy)—structures visible under a microscope.

Homeostasis is maintenance of stable internal conditions despite external changes. Anatomical structures enable physiological processes that regulate pH, temperature, osmolarity, and other variables within narrow ranges.

Integumentary (skin), skeletal (femur), muscular (biceps), nervous (brain), endocrine (pancreas), circulatory (heart), lymphatic (spleen), respiratory (lungs), digestive (stomach), urinary (kidney), reproductive (ovary/testis).

Body standing upright, feet together, arms at sides with palms forward. It provides a consistent reference frame so directional terms (superior, inferior, medial, lateral) have universal meaning independent of body orientation.

Superior means toward the head or upper part of body; cranial specifically means toward the skull/brain. All cranial directions are superior, but not all superior directions are cranial (e.g., superior surface of the foot).

A sagittal plane is a vertical plane running anterior-posterior through the body. The midsagittal plane divides the body into equal left and right halves; parasagittal planes create unequal left/right sections.

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped skeletal muscle attached to the ribcage and lumbar spine. Contraction flattens it downward, increasing thoracic cavity volume and decreasing intrapulmonary pressure, causing air to flow into the lungs passively.

Arteries have thick muscular walls to withstand high pressure from heart; capillaries have single-cell walls enabling gas/nutrient exchange; veins have thin walls and valves to return low-pressure blood to heart against gravity.

Myosin heads bind actin, pull toward M-line (power stroke), release, and reattach cyclically. This sliding of thin filaments over thick filaments shortens sarcomeres without filaments changing length, generating contractile force.