5.1 Homeostasis

FSL: GCSE Biology Revision "Homeostasis"

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- Homeostasis is the regulation of the internal conditions of a cell or organism to maintain optimum conditions for function in response to internal and external changes.
- Homeostasis maintains optimal conditions for enzyme action and all cell functions.
- In humans, this includes control of:

Blood glucose concentration
Body temperature
Water levels

- These automatic control systems may involve nervous responses or chemical responses.
- All control systems include:

Cells called receptors, which detect stimuli (changes in the environment)
Coordination centres (e.g. brain, spinal cord, and pancreas) that recieve and process information from the receptors
Effectors, muscles, or glands, which bring about responses which restore optimum levels.