Cardiac Physiology
This organ acts as the central pump that drives circulation throughout the body.
What is the heart?
Blood always flows from this pressure gradient.
What is high to low pressure?
Specialized cells initiate and regulate the heartbeat.
What are pacemaker cells?
Define osmosis.
What is the passive movement of water across a semi-permeable membrane from low to high solute concentration?
Animals that maintain constant internal osmolarity despite external changes.
What are regulators?
These chambers receive blood from veins before it is pumped into the ventricles.
What are the atria?
This term describes the pressure blood exerts on vessel walls.
What is blood pressure?
The SA node is located in this chamber of the heart.
What is the right atrium?
The two main compartments of body fluids.
What are intracellular fluid (ICF) and extracellular fluid (ECF)?
Animals whose internal composition matches their environment.
What are conformers?
These structures prevent the backflow of blood within the heart.
What are valves?
Name the two phases used to describe blood pressure readings.
What are systolic (contraction) and diastolic (relaxation)?
Name the pathway of electrical conduction from the SA node to contraction.
What is SA node → AV node → Bundle of His → Purkinje fibers → Ventricles?
The main cation and anion of extracellular fluid.
What are Na⁺ and Cl⁻?
The main osmotic challenge for freshwater animals.
What is ion loss and water gain?
The left side of the heart pumps this type of blood
What is oxygen-rich blood?
Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) can be estimated by this equation.
What is DP + 0.5(PP)?
The QRS complex of an ECG corresponds to this electrical event.
What is ventricular depolarization?
These three types of regulation maintain ECF stability.
What are volume, ionic, and osmotic regulation?
The main osmotic challenge for marine animals.
What is ion gain and water loss?
Name the four heart valves in anatomical order from right atrium to systemic circulation.
What are tricuspid, pulmonary semilunar, bicuspid (mitral), and aortic semilunar valves?
These small blood vessels allow molecule exchange and rely on hydrostatic and oncotic pressures.
What are capillaries?
Norepinephrine released from the sympathetic nervous system has this effect on heart rate.
What is an increase (in HR)?
A malfunction in osmoregulation leading to high solute concentration and low volume is known as this.
What is hypertonic dehydration (true dehydration)?
During true dehydration, why is salt necessary for rehydration?
What is because sodium helps retain and move water into cells?