Homeostasis - The Full Explanation

... HOMEOSTASIS ESSAY COURSEWORK The term homeostasis was first coined by Walter Cannon in 1929 to literally mean 'steady state'. It describes the dynamic equilibrium by which internal constancy is maintained within set limits by regulation and control. There are many examples of homeostatic control throughout the human body and in other living organisms, such as pH, pressure, and temperature. A concept important to homeostasis is the process of feedback circuits; involving a receptor, an effecter, and a control centre. A receptor is responsible for detecting a change in the body, while the effecter corrects this. The control centre organizes these two together to elicit the response. The most common form of control in homeostasis is known as negative feedback, in which an excess or deficit in a homeostatic system triggers its own regulation. The diagram below illustrates this concept in reference to the control of temperature (Figure 1). Figure 1 is a simple

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