Homeostasis
The maintenance of a constant internal environment in the body despite changes outside.
In other languages
- EN: Homeostasis
- BM: Homeostasis
- 中文: 稳态
In the syllabus and the exam
Homeostasis is the unifying concept that opens the topic covering thermoregulation and osmoregulation together, and candidates are expected to explain it as an active, continuously monitored process rather than a fixed, unchanging state. A strong answer describes homeostasis using a feedback framework: a receptor detects a deviation from the normal set point, this information reaches a coordinating centre, and effectors respond to correct the deviation and return the internal condition back towards the set point, a pattern examiners call negative feedback. Candidates should be able to apply this same general framework to at least two named examples in the syllabus, body temperature regulation involving the skin and hypothalamus, and blood water level regulation involving the kidney and antidiuretic hormone, showing that the underlying logic of detect-correct-return is identical even though the specific organs differ. A frequent weakness in answers is describing only the corrective action, such as sweating or shivering, without first stating what change was detected and by which receptor.
Example
Sweating is one homeostatic mechanism that helps keep human body temperature close to 37 degrees Celsius despite hot surroundings.
Related terms
Source:SRC-DSKP-EN
Chapter: Homeostasis and Human Urinary System
Related
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