BPK 205 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-6: Blood Vessel, Homeostasis, Positive Feedback
Document Summary
[total one page with a figure; 15 minutes] The body maintains its 37 deg c temperature by countering the loss of heat instigated by the cold water. Nerves in the skin send signals to the hypothalamus in the brain that senses the loss in body heat. This triggers the release of signals of both the endocrine and nervous systems that start heat preserving actions. These actions may include: reduced sweating, teeth chattering, shivering, blood flow distribution concentrated more at the core of the body rather than skin. This system is called a negative feedback system. There is a stimulus (the cold water), that causes a change in temperature that is sensed by a sensor (nerves). This triggers an input signal that travels to an integrating center (hypothalamus) via the afferent pathway. The integrating center triggers multiple signals that travel via the efferent pathway to different targets/effectors (blood vessels, sweat glands, muscles).