What is Anatomy & Physiology? - Online Tutor, Practice Problems & Exam Prep

Anatomy focuses on the body's structure, while physiology examines its functions. Understanding the principle of complementarity reveals that structure determines function; for instance, the heart's anatomy enables its role in pumping blood. This interconnectedness enhances comprehension of both fields, emphasizing that anatomy and physiology are not isolated but rather support each other in understanding the human body. Mastering this relationship is crucial for deeper insights into various biological systems and processes.

Intro to A&P

Hello, folks. And welcome to anatomy and physiology from Pearson Plus. My name is Bruce. And along with my colleagues, it's going to be our job to help you understand the content and concepts for your A and P course, and importantly, to also help you remember those concepts so that you'll be prepared for your exam. I've been a scientist and science educator for over 20 years.

I have a master's degree in biology from Brown University, and I have spent years in the classroom teaching both biology and anatomy and physiology. In this course, we're going to be breaking down what you need to know for anatomy and physiology, from the organization of the human body, to central concepts such as homeostasis and feedback loops, to the structure and function of the body systems. Let's see how this is going to work. We've designed this course to be aligned to your class and to your textbook. We've broken down each chapter into digestible chunks, short videos that explain what you need to know, simply and concisely.

And along with our explanations, we provide mnemonic devices and memory tools. So you don't just understand the material, you also remember it when it's time for the exam. We'll look at example problems, where we work through common test questions, showing you how we would answer them. Then it's time for you to practice. And with every practice question, there's a video solution, showing you not just the right answer, but also how we think through the problem and other problems like it.

And if you do get stuck, our AI tutor will answer your questions using information from the textbook and from the video lesson. Need more help? Put a question in the comments, and one of our tutors will answer. Along with all of this, we offer downloadable worksheets. You're not just watching along, you're working with us, taking notes that you can review later.

And when it's time for your exam, you can upload your syllabus, and Pearson Plus will use that information to help you keep track of your progress. We'll even generate customized practice tests based on the chapters you've covered in your class. So, again, welcome to anatomy and physiology at Pearson Plus. I'm pumped you're here, so let's get started. I will see you in the next video.

The Difference Between Anatomy and Physiology

Hello, and welcome. My name is Bruce, and along with my colleague Jason, I'm going to be your guide for this course, Anatomy and Physiology. Now whether you're someone who's just interested in science, or maybe you're pursuing a career in the medical or health and wellness fields, or maybe you just want to learn more about how your body works, it's going to be our goal to help you succeed in your class. With that in mind, let's get started. You've probably already realized that you're taking one class that has two names, anatomy and physiology. The first thing that we want to do is figure out what the difference between those two fields is, and there are a few reasons for that. First off, it might be a test question. But also, as you go through this class, there's going to be times when you're asked to look at the anatomy of something or answer a question about the physiology of something. And when that happens, you're going to want to know what people are talking about. So, Anatomy and Physiology, this course together, is going to be the study of the body's structure and function, but we can separate those ideas out. Specifically, anatomy is going to be the study of the body's structure. If you're naming things in the body, talking about the lumps and the bumps of the body, what things are made of, figuring out where things are in the body, you are doing anatomy. Now in contrast, physiology is the study of the body's function. If you're talking about how things in the body work, how the body does the jobs it does, how the body responds to different things, you're doing physiology. Now, to try to make this distinction a bit more clear, we have 2 diagrams here that relate to the heart. Now don't worry, you don't need to know anything about the heart at this point in the course, and when we get to the heart, you'll be able to fill these 2 diagrams out very easily on your own. So first, let's look on the left. We hav

What is Anatomy & Physiology? Example 1

Now we're going to take a look at this example where we're going to read a bunch of statements. And for each statement, if it seems to apply more to anatomy, we'll mark it with an 'a'. More to physiology, we'll mark it with a 'p'. So with that, let's take a look. First up, we have the hormone insulin is released when blood glucose levels increase.

Take a second. Anatomy or physiology? Alright. Well, when I read that, I don't see anything about structure. What I do see is an action verb.

Right? Something's being released. It's being released in response to a change in the body. Something's increasing. How the body responds to this change, that's definitely a function.

So a function, I'm going to mark it with 'p' for physiology. Next, we have 2 major blood vessels enter the liver, the hepatic portal vein and the hepatic artery. Think anatomy or physiology? Well, we're talking about where blood vessels go, what they connect to. That definitely sounds like structure.

It doesn't tell me what they are doing. So if we're just talking about structure, that's going to be a statement of anatomy. I'll mark it with an 'a'. Next, we have electric charge in neurons is maintained through a gradient of ions across the cell membrane. Alright, think about that one for a second.

Okay. We have electric charge being maintained across a gradient. Alright. When we're talking about things being maintained across a gradient or things changing across a gradient, that's how something is working. There isn't really much of anything in here about structure.

It mentions a cell membrane, but it doesn't tell me anything about the structure of that cell membrane. So this is about how something works, what it does. That's a statement of physiology. I'm going to mark it with a 'p'. Next, we have ligaments and tendons are largely composed of collagen fibers.

Take a second to think about that one. Alright. What something is made of, how it is built. It's not telling me what it does, so how something is built is a statement of anatomy. I'll mark it with an 'a'.

Next, we have 206 named bones in the human body. Take a second to think about that. Alright. Do you know what the bones do? No.

Do you know how many there are? Does that tell you something about how the body is built? Yes. So that's going to be a statement of anatomy or mark it with an 'a'. Finally, activation of the sympathetic nervous system will increase heart rate and elevate blood pressure.

One more time: anatomy or physiology. Alright. Keywords here: activation, increasing heart rate, elevating blood pressure. This is all talking about the body doing something, how it works. So, again, that's going to be physiology.

I'll mark it with a 'p'. Alright. We'll practice more of these going forward, but just always remember, anatomy is structure, physiology is function.

What is Anatomy & Physiology? Example 2

This example again asks us to distinguish between anatomy and physiology, but here we're going to do it more in the context of scientific research. So, two biologists are studying the causes of acid reflux or heartburn. Determine whether each biologist takes a more anatomical approach or a more physiological approach to their study.

First, it says Rita uses a probe to measure the change in pH of subject stomach acid before and after eating and compares that data to the amount of heartburn the subject reports experiencing.

When I look at it, the keywords here are that Rita is measuring the change in pH of stomach acid. If you are measuring the response to something, how the acid in the stomach changes over time, that's how the stomach works. It doesn't say anything about the structure of the stomach. So, how the stomach works, how it functions, that's physiological. It sounds like Rita is taking a more physiological approach to her study.

Next, we have Andre. Andre uses MRI data to compare the shape of the stomach, pyloric sphincter, and esophagus for 100 subjects who complain of regular heartburn and 100 subjects who do not experience heartburn.

When I see this, I see MRI data. That's really pictures of things, and he's looking at the shape of the stomach, pyloric sphincter, and esophagus. Shape is structure. When we're talking about structure, that tells me they're taking more of an anatomical approach.

With that, we have more practice problems below for you to practice this distinction, and I'll see you in the next video.

Weightlifting and other resistance exercise can lead to bone to become thicker and even restructured internally to increase strength. This is one reason resistance exercise is recommended to elderly people at risk of breaking bones. As stated, was the previous statement more related to anatomy or physiology?

• A. Anatomy.
• B. Physiology.
• C. Neither anatomy nor physiology.
• D. Equally both anatomy and physiology.

Which describes an activity that would most likely be performed by someone that considers themselves a physiologist?

• A. Perform a detailed dissection of a cadaver's calf muscles to identify the layers of muscle and connective tissue.
• B. Grow liver cells in cell culture to measure how quickly they metabolize alcohol in different conditions.
• C. Weigh the brains of many individuals to test for a correlation to body size.
• D. Map the ducts of different glands and mathematically analyze if the branching patterns are optimally connected. 

How Anatomy and Phyisology Are Related

We've been talking about the difference between anatomy and physiology, but, of course, they're often taught in the same class and that's for a very good reason. Anatomy and physiology, we're going to say, are not completely independent. And we can go further and say that they are closely closely linked. And that link comes from what we're going to call the principle of complementarity. The principle of complementarity is a phrase that you might need to know for a test question, but it's much more likely you need to know the ideas behind it really really well.

So we'll break it down. Complementarity, when things complement each other, they go together. They support each other. They build off each other. We can start by talking about anatomy.

Remember, anatomy is the study of structure. So why are things structured the way they are? Well, structure exists in order to perform a function. Why is the heart built the way it is? The heart is built the way it is so that it can pump blood.

Therefore, we can say to understand why an organ is built a certain way, you must understand what it does. To fully understand the anatomy, you need to understand the physiology. So we can come over to physiology. Physiology, the study of function. Why do things function the way they do?

Well, function is determined by structure. Why does the heart pump blood the way it does? It pumps blood the way it does because of the very specific way it is built. So we can say to understand how an organ does its job, you must understand how it is built. To fully understand the physiology, you need to understand the anatomy.

You're going to see this relationship over and over again, phrased slightly different ways, the structure function relationship. Structure determines function, and so on. And this relation is going to come up in chapter after chapter after chapter, and it's really important you keep it in mind. Sometimes, it's easy to think of anatomy as just a list of facts, and then separately, you're going to learn physiology. But if you learn these things together, if you understand that the anatomy that you're learning is there to do a job and the job works because of the anatomy, you're going to have a much deeper understanding of everything.

So like always, we have an example and some practice problems below. Under that, let's go learn something about the body.

What is Anatomy & Physiology? Example 3

This example asks us, what relationship does the following information illustrate? And then it tells us something about the structure of the lungs. It tells us something about the function of the lungs, and it has this diagram of the lungs with a sort of blown-up section here showing deep, deep within the lungs. Now, remember for this unit, you don't need to know anything about the lungs or how they function, but we can analyze these relationships. So, first off, the structure of the lungs. It says that there's this network of passageways that deliver air. Well, I'm going to look over on the diagram and color that network, at least some of it, in with purple. So we start up here at the trachea. It branches down, and these passageways go down to each lung, and deep, deep within the lung in this blown-up section, you can see the passageways go deep down in. Next, it says that there are alveoli to increase surface area, and I'll color in this one alveoli. The alveoli are the smallest little compartments of the lungs. And because there are so many little alveoli, the lungs have tons and tons of surface area. Next, it says the alveoli have extremely thin walls, and you can see that in this diagram, this alveoli that I colored has extremely thin walls around it. And finally, that the alveoli have capillaries surrounding them, just bringing tons and tons of blood to those extremely thin walls and tons of surface area. So when we look down, it says that the function of the lungs is the exchange of O₂ and CO₂ between the air and blood. Well, let's think about that. That network of passageways gets that air deep, deep inside the lungs and back out again. The alveoli with tons of surface area and thin walls covered with these capillaries that bring blood to the lungs. That means that that blood is in really, really close contact, just separated by really thin layers of tissue from the air with which it needs to exchange that O₂ and CO₂. That means that that exchange in the lungs is going to be really, really efficient. This is talking about that structure function relationship. The lungs are really, really good at exchanging O₂ and CO₂ with the air because of the way they're built, because of all these things that we just talked about. So I'm going to write what we said in the last video. We said the principle of complementarity. He said you need to know that phrase for some classes, but more often you really just need to know the idea behind it. The idea behind it is that structure-function relationship. And then also just write, you know, structure determines function. Why are the lungs built the way they are? They are built the way that they are, so they are really, really good at exchanging O₂ and CO₂. Why are they so good at exchanging O₂ and CO₂? Because of those structures that we talked about. Alright. With that, we have a couple more practice problems below, and I will see you in the next video.

Which example best describes the close relationship between anatomy and physiology?

• A. The kidneys will remove more water from the blood as blood volume increases.
• B. The size of the heart can vary as a function of sex, height, weight, age, and other factors.
• C. The study of anatomy & physiology spans many levels of organization from the molecular to the whole body.
• D. The structure of the heart valves causes the blood to flow in only one direction when the heart pumps.

Why is it important to have some knowledge of anatomy in order to study physiology?

• A. It is important because structures (anatomy) can change rapidly depending on the function (physiology) that must be performed.
• B. It is important because how something functions (physiology) is directly dependent on its structure (anatomy).
• C. It is important because understanding how something works (physiology) is more relevant to curing disease.
• D. It is important because physiology exists to develop the correct anatomy. 

Here’s what students ask on this topic:

What is the difference between anatomy and physiology?

Anatomy and physiology are two closely related fields of study. Anatomy focuses on the structure of the body, including the identification and description of body parts, their locations, and their relationships to one another. For example, studying the anatomy of the heart involves examining its chambers, valves, and blood vessels. Physiology, on the other hand, examines the functions of these body parts and how they work together to sustain life. For instance, studying the physiology of the heart involves understanding how it pumps blood, regulates blood pressure, and responds to various stimuli. Together, these fields provide a comprehensive understanding of how the body is built and how it operates.

Why are anatomy and physiology often taught together?

Anatomy and physiology are often taught together because they are interdependent fields that complement each other. This relationship is known as the principle of complementarity, which states that structure determines function and vice versa. For example, the anatomy of the heart (its structure) is designed to enable its function of pumping blood. Conversely, understanding how the heart pumps blood (its function) requires knowledge of its anatomical structure. Teaching these subjects together helps students gain a deeper and more integrated understanding of how the body works, making it easier to grasp complex biological concepts and processes.

What is the principle of complementarity in anatomy and physiology?

The principle of complementarity in anatomy and physiology refers to the idea that the structure of a body part is directly related to its function. This means that to fully understand how a body part works (its physiology), you need to understand its structure (its anatomy), and vice versa. For example, the heart's structure, with its chambers and valves, is specifically designed to pump blood efficiently. This principle emphasizes that anatomy and physiology are not separate but are closely linked, and understanding one helps in understanding the other. This concept is fundamental in studying biological systems and processes.

How does the structure of the heart relate to its function?

The structure of the heart is intricately designed to support its function of pumping blood throughout the body. The heart has four chambers: two atria and two ventricles. The atria receive blood from the body and lungs, while the ventricles pump blood out to these areas. Valves between the chambers ensure unidirectional blood flow, preventing backflow. The muscular walls of the ventricles, especially the left ventricle, are thick to generate the force needed to pump blood through the circulatory system. This structural design enables the heart to efficiently perform its function of maintaining blood circulation, illustrating the principle of complementarity between anatomy and physiology.

What are some examples of how anatomy and physiology are interconnected?

Examples of the interconnection between anatomy and physiology include the respiratory system and the skeletal system. In the respiratory system, the structure of the alveoli (tiny air sacs in the lungs) provides a large surface area for gas exchange, which is essential for the function of oxygenating blood. In the skeletal system, the structure of bones, such as the long bones in the legs, supports the function of bearing weight and enabling movement. These examples demonstrate how the specific structures of body parts are designed to perform their respective functions, highlighting the principle of complementarity.