Introduction to Physiology

Physiology (from the Greek physis = nature; logos = study) is the study of biological function—of how the body works, from cell to tissue, tissue to organ, organ to system, and of how the organism as a whole accomplishes particular tasks essential for life. In the study of physiology, the emphasis is on  mechanisms—with questions that begin with the word how and answers that involve cause-and-effect sequences. These sequences can be woven into larger and larger stories that include descriptions of the structures involved (anatomy) and that overlap with the sciences of chemistry and physics.
The separate facts and relationships of these cause-andeffect sequences are derived empirically from experimental evidence. Explanations that seem logical are not necessarily true; they are only as valid as the data on which they are based, and they can change as new techniques are developed and further experiments are performed. The ultimate objective of physiological research is to understand the normal functioning of cells, organs, and systems. A related science—pathophysiology—is concerned with how physiological processes are altered in disease or injury.
Pathophysiology and the study of normal physiology complement one another. For example, a standard technique for investigating the functioning of an organ is to observe what happens when it is surgically removed from an experimental animal or when its function is altered in a specific way. This study is often aided by “experiments of nature”—diseases—that involve specific damage to the functioning of an organ. The study of disease processes has thus aided our understanding of normal functioning, and the study of normal physiology has provided much of the scientific basis of modern medicine. This relationship is recognized by the Nobel Prize committee, whose members award prizes in the category “Physiology or Medicine.”
The physiology of invertebrates and of different vertebrate groups is studied in the science of comparative physiology. Much of the knowledge gained from comparative physiology has benefited the study of human physiology. This is because animals, including humans, are more alike than they are different. This is especially true when comparing humans with other mammals. The small differences in physiology between humans and other mammals can be of crucial importance in the development of pharmaceutical drugs (discussed later in this section), but these differences are relatively slight in the overall study of physiology.