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Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a
living system Living systems are open self-organizing life forms that interact with their environment. These systems are maintained by flows of information, energy and matter. In the last few decades, some scientists have proposed that a general living systems ...
. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs,
cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...
, and
biomolecule A biomolecule or biological molecule is a loosely used term for molecules present in organisms that are essential to one or more typically biological processes, such as cell division, morphogenesis, or development. Biomolecules include large ...
s carry out the chemical and
physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
functions in a living system. According to the classes of organisms, the field can be divided into
medical physiology Clinical physiology is both an academic discipline within the medical sciences and a clinical medical specialty for physicians in the health care systems of Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Clinical physiology is characterized as a branch of physiology ...
, animal physiology,
plant physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bi ...
, cell physiology, and
comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a List of academic disciplines, subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environ ...
. Central to physiological functioning are biophysical and
biochemical Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology an ...
processes, homeostatic control mechanisms, and communication between cells. ''Physiological state'' is the condition of normal function. In contrast, '' pathological state'' refers to abnormal conditions, including human diseases. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...
for exceptional scientific achievements in physiology related to the field of medicine.


Foundations


Cells

Although there are differences between animal, plant, and microbial cells, the basic physiological functions of cells can be divided into the processes of cell division, cell signaling,
cell growth Cell growth refers to an increase in the total mass of a cell, including both cytoplasmic, nuclear and organelle volume. Cell growth occurs when the overall rate of cellular biosynthesis (production of biomolecules or anabolism) is greater than ...
, and
cell metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...
.


Plants

Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology, plant ecology,
phytochemistry Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants. Phytochemists strive to describe the structures of the large number of secondary metabolites found in plants, the functions of these compounds in human and ...
,
cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...
, genetics, biophysics, and molecular biology. Fundamental processes of
plant physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bi ...
include photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, tropisms, nastic movements, photoperiodism,
photomorphogenesis In developmental biology, photomorphogenesis is light-mediated development, where plant growth patterns respond to the light spectrum. This is a completely separate process from photosynthesis where light is used as a source of energy. Phytochromes ...
,
circadian rhythm A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., Endogeny (biology), endogeno ...
s, seed germination,
dormancy Dormancy is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy. Dormancy tends to be clo ...
, and
stoma In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...
ta function and transpiration. Absorption of water by roots, production of food in the leaves, and growth of shoots towards light are examples of plant physiology.


Animals


Humans

Human physiology seeks to understand the mechanisms that work to keep the
human body The human body is the structure of a Human, human being. It is composed of many different types of Cell (biology), cells that together create Tissue (biology), tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the life, viabi ...
alive and functioning, through scientific enquiry into the nature of mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of humans, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed. The principal level of focus of physiology is at the level of organs and systems within systems. The endocrine and nervous systems play major roles in the reception and transmission of signals that integrate function in animals. Homeostasis is a major aspect with regard to such interactions within plants as well as animals. The biological basis of the study of physiology, integration refers to the overlap of many functions of the systems of the human body, as well as its accompanied form. It is achieved through communication that occurs in a variety of ways, both electrical and chemical. Changes in physiology can impact the mental functions of individuals. Examples of this would be the effects of certain medications or toxic levels of substances. Change in
behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...
as a result of these substances is often used to assess the health of individuals. Much of the foundation of knowledge in human physiology was provided by animal experimentation. Due to the frequent connection between form and function, physiology and anatomy are intrinsically linked and are studied in tandem as part of a medical curriculum.


Comparative physiology

Involving evolutionary physiology and
environmental physiology Ecophysiology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logy, -logia''), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biology, biological List of academic disciplines, discipline that ...
, comparative physiology considers the diversity of functional characteristics across organisms.


History


The classical era

The study of human physiology as a medical field originates in
classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Marti ...
, at the time of Hippocrates (late 5th century BC). Outside of Western tradition, early forms of physiology or anatomy can be reconstructed as having been present at around the same time in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, India and elsewhere. Hippocrates incorporated the theory of humorism, which consisted of four basic substances: earth, water, air and fire. Each substance is known for having a corresponding humor: black bile, phlegm, blood, and yellow bile, respectively. Hippocrates also noted some emotional connections to the four humors, on which Galen would later expand. The critical thinking of Aristotle and his emphasis on the relationship between structure and function marked the beginning of physiology in Ancient Greece. Like Hippocrates, Aristotle took to the humoral theory of disease, which also consisted of four primary qualities in life: hot, cold, wet and dry. Galen (–200 AD) was the first to use experiments to probe the functions of the body. Unlike Hippocrates, Galen argued that humoral imbalances can be located in specific organs, including the entire body. His modification of this theory better equipped doctors to make more precise diagnoses. Galen also played off of Hippocrates' idea that emotions were also tied to the humors, and added the notion of temperaments: sanguine corresponds with blood; phlegmatic is tied to phlegm; yellow bile is connected to choleric; and black bile corresponds with melancholy. Galen also saw the human body consisting of three connected systems: the brain and nerves, which are responsible for thoughts and sensations; the heart and arteries, which give life; and the liver and veins, which can be attributed to nutrition and growth. Galen was also the founder of experimental physiology. And for the next 1,400 years, Galenic physiology was a powerful and influential tool in medicine.


Early modern period

Jean Fernel (1497–1558), a French physician, introduced the term "physiology". Galen, Ibn al-Nafis, Michael Servetus,
Realdo Colombo Matteo Realdo Colombo (c. 1515 – 1559) was an Italian professor of anatomy and a surgeon at the University of Padua between 1544 and 1559. Early life and education Matteo Realdo Colombo or Realdus Columbus, was born in Cremona, Lombardy, the ...
,
Amato Lusitano João Rodrigues de Castelo Branco, better known as Amato Lusitano and Amatus Lusitanus (1511–1568), was a notable Portuguese Jewish physician of the 16th century. He is sometimes is said to have discovered the valves in the vena azygos. L ...
and William Harvey, are credited as making important discoveries in the circulation of the blood.
Santorio Santorio Santorio Santori (29 March, 1561 – 25 February, 1636) also called Santorio Santorio, Santorio de' Sanctoriis, or Sanctorius of Padua and various combinations of these names, was an Italian physiologist, physician, and professor, who introduc ...
in 1610s was the first to use a device to measure the pulse rate (the ''pulsilogium''), and a thermoscope to measure temperature. In 1791
Luigi Galvani Luigi Galvani (, also ; ; la, Aloysius Galvanus; 9 September 1737 – 4 December 1798) was an Italian physician, physicist, biologist and philosopher, who studied animal electricity. In 1780, he discovered that the muscles of dead frogs' legs ...
described the role of electricity in nerves of dissected frogs. In 1811,
César Julien Jean Legallois César Julien Jean (also "Julien Jean César) Legallois" (also ''Le Gallois;'') (1 February 1770 at Cherrueix, Bretagne – 10 February 1814 in Paris) was a French physician and physiologist. Life César Julien Jean Legallois was the son of ...
studied respiration in animal dissection and lesions and found the center of respiration in the
medulla oblongata The medulla oblongata or simply medulla is a long stem-like structure which makes up the lower part of the brainstem. It is anterior and partially inferior to the cerebellum. It is a cone-shaped neuronal mass responsible for autonomic (involun ...
. In the same year,
Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scotland, Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in ...
finished work on what would later become known as the Bell-Magendie law, which compared functional differences between dorsal and ventral roots of the spinal cord. In 1824, François Magendie described the sensory roots and produced the first evidence of the cerebellum's role in equilibration to complete the Bell-Magendie law. In the 1820s, the French physiologist
Henri Milne-Edwards Henri Milne-Edwards (23 October 1800 – 29 July 1885) was an eminent French zoologist. Biography Henri Milne-Edwards was the 27th child of William Edwards, an English planter and colonel of the militia in Jamaica and Elisabeth Vaux, a Frenchw ...
introduced the notion of physiological division of labor, which allowed to "compare and study living things as if they were machines created by the industry of man." Inspired in the work of
Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...
, Milne-Edwards wrote that the "body of all living beings, whether animal or plant, resembles a factory ... where the organs, comparable to workers, work incessantly to produce the phenomena that constitute the life of the individual." In more differentiated organisms, the functional labor could be apportioned between different instruments or
systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...
(called by him as ''appareils'').R. M. Brain. ''The Pulse of Modernism: Physiological Aesthetics in Fin-de-Siècle Europe''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015. 384 pp.

In 1858, Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, Joseph Lister studied the cause of blood coagulation and inflammation that resulted after previous injuries and surgical wounds. He later discovered and implemented antiseptics in the operating room, and as a result, decreased death rate from surgery by a substantial amount. The Physiological Society was founded in London in 1876 as a dining club.
The American Physiological Society The American Physiological Society is a non-profit professional society for physiologists. It has nearly 10,000 members, most of whom hold doctoral degrees in medicine, physiology or other health professions. Its mission is to support research and ...
(APS) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1887. The Society is, "devoted to fostering education, scientific research, and dissemination of information in the physiological sciences." In 1891, Ivan Pavlov performed research on "conditional responses" that involved dogs' saliva production in response to a bell and visual stimuli. In the 19th century, physiological knowledge began to accumulate at a rapid rate, in particular with the 1838 appearance of the Cell theory of
Matthias Schleiden Matthias Jakob Schleiden (; 5 April 1804 – 23 June 1881) was a German botanist and co-founder of cell theory, along with Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchow. Career Matthias Jakob Schleiden was born in Hamburg. on 5 April 1804. His father was ...
and Theodor Schwann. It radically stated that organisms are made up of units called cells. Claude Bernard's (1813–1878) further discoveries ultimately led to his concept of ''
milieu interieur The internal environment (or ''milieu intérieur'' in French language, French) was a concept developed by Claude Bernard, a French physiologist in the 19th century, to describe the Extracellular fluid#Interstitial fluid, interstitial fluid and it ...
'' (internal environment), which would later be taken up and championed as " homeostasis" by American physiologist
Walter B. Cannon Walter Bradford Cannon (October 19, 1871 – October 1, 1945) was an American physiologist, professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School. He coined the term "fight or flight response", and developed the theory ...
in 1929. By homeostasis, Cannon meant "the maintenance of steady states in the body and the physiological processes through which they are regulated." In other words, the body's ability to regulate its internal environment. William Beaumont was the first American to utilize the practical application of physiology. Nineteenth-century physiologists such as Michael Foster,
Max Verworn Max Richard Constantin Verworn (4 November 1863 – 23 November 1921) was a German physiologist who was a native of Berlin. He studied medicine and natural sciences in Berlin, and later moved to Jena, where he furthered his studies with Ernst H ...
, and Alfred Binet, based on
Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...
's ideas, elaborated what came to be called "general physiology", a unified science of life based on the cell actions, later renamed in the 20th century as
cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...
.


Late modern period

In the 20th century, biologists became interested in how organisms other than human beings function, eventually spawning the fields of
comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a List of academic disciplines, subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environ ...
and ecophysiology. Major figures in these fields include Knut Schmidt-Nielsen and George Bartholomew. Most recently, evolutionary physiology has become a distinct subdiscipline. In 1920, August Krogh won the Nobel Prize for discovering how, in capillaries, blood flow is regulated. In 1954, Andrew Huxley and Hugh Huxley, alongside their research team, discovered the sliding filaments in
skeletal muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...
, known today as the sliding filament theory. Recently, there have been intense debates about the vitality of physiology as a discipline (Is it dead or alive?). If physiology is perhaps less visible nowadays than during the golden age of the 19th century, it is in large part because the field has given birth to some of the most active domains of today's biological sciences, such as neuroscience, endocrinology, and immunology. Furthermore, physiology is still often seen as an integrative discipline, which can put together into a coherent framework data coming from various different domains.


Notable physiologists


Women in physiology

Initially, women were largely excluded from official involvement in any physiological society. The American Physiological Society, for example, was founded in 1887 and included only men in its ranks. In 1902, the American Physiological Society elected
Ida Hyde Ida Henrietta Hyde (September 8, 1857 – August 22, 1945) was an American physiologist known for developing a micro-electrode powerful enough to stimulate tissue chemically or electronically, yet small enough to inject or remove tissue from a ce ...
as the first female member of the society. Hyde, a representative of the
American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...
and a global advocate for gender equality in education, attempted to promote gender equality in every aspect of science and medicine. Soon thereafter, in 1913,
J.S. Haldane John Scott Haldane (; 2 May 1860 – 14/15 March 1936) was a British physician and physiologist famous for intrepid self-experimentation which led to many important discoveries about the human body and the nature of gases. He also experimen ...
proposed that women be allowed to formally join The Physiological Society, which had been founded in 1876. On 3 July 1915, six women were officially admitted:
Florence Buchanan Florence Buchanan (21 April 1867 – 13 March 1931) was a zoologist. She was awarded a London D.Sc. in 1902, was appointed as a Fellow of the University College London in 1904, and was awarded the American Association of Collegiate Alumnae's priz ...
, Winifred Cullis,
Ruth C. Skelton Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny#Geography, Cologny United States * Ruth, A ...
,
Sarah C. M. Sowton Sarah (born Sarai) is a Patriarchs (Bible)#Matriarchs, biblical matriarch and Prophet, prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her ...
,
Constance Leetham Terry Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada *Constance, Kentucky *Constance, Minnesota *Constance (Portugal) *Mount Constance, Washington State People *Constance ( ...
, and
Enid M. Tribe Enid may refer to: Places *Enid, Mississippi, an unincorporated community *Enid, Oklahoma, a city * 13436 Enid, an asteroid *Enid Lake, Mississippi Given name *Enid (given name), a Welsh female given name and a list of people and fictional charact ...
. The centenary of the election of women was celebrated in 2015 with the publication of the book "Women Physiologists: Centenary Celebrations And Beyond For The Physiological Society." () Prominent women physiologists include: *
Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen (3 November 1918 – 27 April 2015) was a Danish-born American physiologist, who became the first woman president of the American Physiological Society in 1975. Biography Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen was born in Copenhagen, Denm ...
, the first woman president of the American Physiological Society in 1975. * Gerty Cori, along with husband Carl Cori, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947 for their discovery of the phosphate-containing form of glucose known as
glycogen Glycogen is a multibranched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals, fungi, and bacteria. The polysaccharide structure represents the main storage form of glucose in the body. Glycogen functions as one o ...
, as well as its function within eukaryotic
metabolic Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...
mechanisms for energy production. Moreover, they discovered the
Cori cycle The Cori cycle (also known as the lactic acid cycle), named after its discoverers, Carl Ferdinand Cori and Gerty Cori, is a metabolic pathway in which lactate, produced by anaerobic glycolysis in muscles, is transported to the liver and converte ...
, also known as the Lactic acid cycle, which describes how muscle tissue converts glycogen into lactic acid via
lactic acid fermentation Lactic acid fermentation is a metabolic process by which glucose or other six-carbon sugars (also, disaccharides of six-carbon sugars, e.g. sucrose or lactose) are converted into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate, which is lactic acid ...
. *
Barbara McClintock Barbara McClintock (June 16, 1902 – September 2, 1992) was an American scientist and cytogeneticist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927. There s ...
was rewarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of genetic transposition. McClintock is the only female recipient who has won an unshared Nobel Prize. * Gertrude Elion, along with George Hitchings and
Sir James Black Sir James Whyte Black (14 June 1924 – 22 March 2010) was a Scottish physician and pharmacologist. Together with Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings, he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 for pioneering strategies for rational d ...
, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for their development of drugs employed in the treatment of several major diseases, such as leukemia, some autoimmune disorders, gout, malaria, and viral herpes. * Linda B. Buck, along with Richard Axel, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004 for their discovery of
odorant receptors Olfactory receptors (ORs), also known as odorant receptors, are chemoreceptors expressed in the cell membranes of olfactory receptor neurons and are responsible for the detection of odorants (for example, compounds that have an odor) which give ri ...
and the complex organization of the olfactory system. * Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, along with
Luc Montagnier Luc Montagnier (; , ; 18 August 1932 – 8 February 2022) was a French virologist and joint recipient, with and , of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). He worked as a res ...
, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 for their work on the identification of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the cause of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). * Elizabeth Blackburn, along with
Carol W. Greider Carolyn Widney Greider (born April 15, 1961) is an American molecular biologist and Nobel laureate. She joined the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Distinguished Professor in the department of molecular, cell, and developmental biology ...
and Jack W. Szostak, was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the genetic composition and function of telomeres and the enzyme called telomerase.


Subdisciplines

There are many ways to categorize the subdisciplines of physiology:Moyes, C.D., Schulte, P.M. Principles of Animal Physiology, second edition. Pearson/Benjamin Cummings. Boston, MA, 2008. * based on the taxa studied: human physiology, animal physiology,
plant physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bi ...
, microbial physiology, viral physiology * based on the level of organization: cell physiology, molecular physiology,
systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...
physiology, organismal physiology,
ecological physiology Ecophysiology (from Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logia''), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the response of an organism's physiology to environm ...
, integrative physiology * based on the process that causes physiological variation: developmental physiology,
environmental physiology Ecophysiology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logy, -logia''), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biology, biological List of academic disciplines, discipline that ...
, evolutionary physiology * based on the ultimate goals of the research:
applied physiology Applied Physiology is the study of biological systems and steps into practice. It involves the application of the knowledge of physiological properties to restore core stability and joint stability. It differs from clinical practice. See also * ...
(e.g., medical physiology), non-applied (e.g.,
comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a List of academic disciplines, subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environ ...
)


Physiological societies

Transnational physiological societies include: * American Physiological Society *
International Union of Physiological Sciences The International Union of Physiological Sciences, abbreviated IUPS, is the global umbrella organization for physiology. IUPS aims to facilitate initiatives that strengthen the discipline of physiology. IUPS is a scientific union member of the I ...
* The Physiological Society National physiological societies include: *
Brazilian Society of Physiology The Brazilian Society of Physiology (Sociedade Brasileira de Fisiologia, in Portuguese language, official abbreviation SBFis) is a learned society and association of students and professionals in physiology in Brazil. It is a member of the Brazili ...


See also

*
Outline of physiology The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to physiology: Physiology – scientific study of the normal function in living systems. A branch of biology, its focus is in how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, a ...
* Biochemistry * Biophysics * Cytoarchitecture *
Defense physiology Defense physiology is a term used to refer to the symphony of body function (physiology) changes which occur in response to a stress or threat. When the body executes the "fight-or-flight" reaction or stress response, the nervous system initiates ...
* Ecophysiology *
Exercise physiology Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...
*
Fish physiology Fish physiology is the scientific study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. It can be contrasted with fish anatomy, which is the study of the form or morphology of fishes. In practice, fish anatomy and physi ...
* Insect physiology *
Human body The human body is the structure of a Human, human being. It is composed of many different types of Cell (biology), cells that together create Tissue (biology), tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the life, viabi ...
* Molecular biology * Metabolome * Neurophysiology *
Pathophysiology Pathophysiology ( physiopathology) – a convergence of pathology with physiology – is the study of the disordered physiological processes that cause, result from, or are otherwise associated with a disease or injury. Pathology is the ...
*
Pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...
* Physiome


References


Bibliography

Human physiology * * Widmaier, E.P., Raff, H., Strang, K.T. ''Vander's Human Physiology''. 11th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2009. * Marieb, E.N. Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology. 10th Edition, Benjamin Cummings, 2012. Animal physiology * Hill, R.W., Wyse, G.A., Anderson, M. ''Animal Physiology'', 3rd ed. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, 2012. * Moyes, C.D., Schulte, P.M. ''Principles of Animal Physiology'', second edition. Pearson/Benjamin Cummings. Boston, MA, 2008. * Randall, D., Burggren, W., and French, K. ''Eckert Animal Physiology: Mechanism and Adaptation'', 5th Edition. W.H. Freeman and Company, 2002. * Schmidt-Nielsen, K. ''Animal Physiology: Adaptation and Environment''. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. * Withers, P.C. ''Comparative animal physiology''. Saunders College Publishing, New York, 1992. Plant physiology * Larcher, W. ''Physiological plant ecology'' (4th ed.). Springer, 2001. * Salisbury, F.B, Ross, C.W. ''Plant physiology''. Brooks/Cole Pub Co., 1992 * Taiz, L., Zieger, E. ''Plant Physiology'' (5th ed.), Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer, 2010. Fungal physiology * Griffin, D.H. ''Fungal Physiology'', Second Edition. Wiley-Liss, New York, 1994. Protistan physiology * Levandowsky, M. Physiological Adaptations of Protists. In: ''Cell physiology sourcebook: essentials of membrane biophysics''. Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier/AP, 2012. * Levandowski, M., Hutner, S.H. (eds). ''Biochemistry and physiology of protozoa''. Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Academic Press: New York, NY, 1979; 2nd ed. * Laybourn-Parry J. ''A Functional Biology of Free-Living Protozoa''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press; 1984. Algal physiology * Lobban, C.S., Harrison, P.J. ''Seaweed ecology and physiology''. Cambridge University Press, 1997. * Stewart, W. D. P. (ed.). ''Algal Physiology and Biochemistry''. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1974. Bacterial physiology * El-Sharoud, W. (ed.). ''Bacterial Physiology: A Molecular Approach''. Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 2008. * Kim, B.H., Gadd, M.G. ''Bacterial Physiology and Metabolism''. Cambridge, 2008. * Moat, A.G., Foster, J.W., Spector, M.P. ''Microbial Physiology'', 4th ed. Wiley-Liss, Inc. New York, NY, 2002.


External links

*
physiologyINFO.org
public information site sponsored by The American Physiological Society {{Authority control Branches of biology