Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to Consider how interesting (or uninteresting) water is as a stimulus. Colorless, odorless, tasteless… By definition, water is about as neutral a stimulus as one can imagine. Most…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to People typically celebrate major milestones (e.g., birthdays, promotions) or holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving, Independence Day), with a large, delicious meal. Think about the last time you gathered with…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to Although we don’t often think about it, modern day humans routinely make behavioral choices to regulate their body temperatures. Our homes and other buildings have thermostats to…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to Consider some of the changes that occur in your body as you go for a run. Soon after you begin, you feel yourself breathing much faster. Your…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to Animals maintain a stable internal environment using multiple homeostatic systems that each regulates a distinct, life-sustaining factor. For example, the neurons and organs that regulate hunger and…
Figure 16.1 AgRP neurons (red) in the hypothalamus that regulate the motivation to eat. Image credit Matthew Carter, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Chapter Outline 16.1 Principles of Homeostasis 16.2 Neural Control of Blood Oxygenation Levels 16.3 Neural Control of Core Body Temperature 16.4 Neural Control of Feeding…
What Are Circadian Rhythms? Endogenous biological rhythms are found in nearly every organism on the planet. Internal clocks can help an organism anticipate changes in their environment. There are many types of biological rhythms that can range from seconds to…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to Our biological rhythms can influence our ability to work at certain times of day, the effectiveness of medication, our health, societal practices such as daylight savings time,…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to Inadequate or disrupted sleep is increasingly being recognized as a serious public health issue (Medic et al., 2017), impacting tens of millions of people in the U.S.…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to Why Does Sleep Exist? At first glance, the entire process of sleep seems maladaptive. While sleeping, organisms are not searching for food or mates and have reduced…