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Unit I - Introduction to Physiology: The Cell and General Physiology

1. Functional Organization of the Human Body and Control of the "Internal Environment"
2. The Cell and Its Functions
3. Genetic Control of Protein Synthesis, Cell Function, and Cell Reproduction

Unit II - Membrane Physiology, Nerve, and Muscle

1. Transport of Substances Through Cell Membranes
2. Membrane Potentials and Action Potentials
3. Contraction of Skeletal Muscle
4. Excitation of Skeletal Muscle: Neuromuscular Transmission and Excitation-Contraction Coupling
5. Excitation and Contraction of Smooth Muscle

Unit III - The Heart

1. Cardiac Muscle; The Heart as a Pump and Function of the Heart Valves
2. Rhythmical Excitation of the Heart
3. The Normal Electrocardiogram
4. Electrocardiographic Interpretation of Cardiac Muscle and Coronary Blood Flow Abnormalities: Vectorial Analysis
5. Cardiac Arrhythmias and Their Electrocardiographic Interpretation

Unit IV - The Circulation

1. Overview of the Circulation; Biophysics of Pressure, Flow, and Resistance
2. Vascular Distensibility and Functions of the Arterial and Venous Systems
3. The Microcirculation and Lymphatic System: Capillary Fluid Exchange, Interstitial Fluid, and Lymph Flow
4. Local and Humoral Control of Tissue Blood Flow
5. Nervous Regulation of the Circulation, and Rapid Control of Arterial Pressure
6. Role of the Kidneys in Long-Term Control of Arterial Pressure and in Hypertension: The Integrated System for Arterial Pressure Regulation
7. Cardiac Output, Venous Return, and Their Regulation
8. Muscle Blood Flow and Cardiac Output During Exercise; the Coronary Circulation and Ischemic Heart Disease
9. Cardiac Failure
10. Heart Valves and Heart Sounds; Valvular and Congenital Heart Defects
11. Circulatory Shock and Its Treatment

Unit V - The Body Fluids and Kidneys

1. The Body Fluid Compartments: Extracellular and Intracellular Fluids; Edema
2. The Urinary System: Functional Anatomy and Urine Formation by the Kidneys
3. Glomerular Filtration, Renal Blood Flow, and Their Control
4. Renal Tubular Reabsorption and Secretion
5. Urine Concentration and Dilution; Regulation of Extracellular Fluid Osmolarity and Sodium Concentration
6. Renal Regulation of Potassium, Calcium, Phosphate, and Magnesium; Integration of Renal Mechanisms for Control of Blood Volume and Extracellular Fluid Volume
7. Acid-Base Regulation
8. Diuretics, Kidney Diseases

Unit VI - Blood Cells, Immunity, and Blood Coagulation

1. Red Blood Cells, Anemia, and Polycythemia
2. Resistance of the Body to Infection: I. Leukocytes, Granulocytes, the Monocyte-Macrophage System, and Inflammation
3. Resistance of the Body to Infection: II. Immunity and Allergy
4. Blood Types; Transfusion; Tissue and Organ Transplantation
5. Hemostasis and Blood Coagulation

Unit VII - Respiration

1. Pulmonary Ventilation
2. Pulmonary Circulation, Pulmonary Edema, Pleural Fluid
3. Principles of Gas Exchange; Diffusion of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Through the Respiratory Membrane
4. Transport of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide in Blood and Tissue Fluids
5. Regulation of Respiration
6. Respiratory Insufficiency - Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Oxygen Therapy

Unit VIII - Aviation, Space, and Deep-Sea Diving Physiology

1. Aviation, High Altitude, and Space Physiology
2. Physiology of Deep-Sea Diving and Other Hyperbaric Conditions

Unit IX - The Nervous System: A. General Principles and Sensory Physiology

1. Organization of the Nervous System, Basic Functions of Synapses, and Neurotransmitters
2. Sensory Receptors, Neuronal Circuits for Processing Information
3. Somatic Sensations: I. General Organization, the Tactile and Position Senses
4. Somatic Sensations: II. Pain, Headache, and Thermal Sensations

Unit X - The Nervous System: B. The Special Senses

1. The Eye: I. Optics of Vision
2. The Eye: II. Receptor and Neural Function of the Retina
3. The Eye: III. Central Neurophysiology of Vision
4. The Sense of Hearing
5. The Chemical Senses - Taste and Smell

Unit XI - The Nervous System: C. Motor and Integrative Neurophysiology

1. Motor Functions of the Spinal Cord; the Cord Reflexes
2. Cortical and Brain Stem Control of Motor Function
3. Contributions of the Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia to Overall Motor Control
4. Cerebral Cortex, Intellectual Functions of the Brain, Learning, and Memory
5. Behavioral and Motivational Mechanisms of the Brain - The Limbic System and the Hypothalamus
6. States of Brain Activity - Sleep, Brain Waves, Epilepsy, Psychoses, and Dementia
7. The Autonomic Nervous System and the Adrenal Medulla
8. Cerebral Blood Flow, Cerebrospinal Fluid, and Brain Metabolism

Unit XII - Gastrointestinal Physiology

1. General Principles of Gastrointestinal Function - Motility, Nervous Control, and Blood Circulation
2. Propulsion and Mixing of Food in the Alimentary Tract
3. Secretory Functions of the Alimentary Tract
4. Digestion and Absorption in the Gastrointestinal Tract
5. Physiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders

Unit XIII - Metabolism and Temperature Regulation

1. Metabolism of Carbohydrates and Formation of Adenosine Triphosphate
2. Lipid Metabolism
3. Protein Metabolism
4. The Liver as an Organ
5. Dietary Balances; Regulation of Feeding; Obesity and Starvation; Vitamins and Minerals
6. Energetics and Metabolic Rate
7. Body Temperature Regulation and Fever

Unit XIV - Endocrinology and Reproduction

1. Introduction to Endocrinology
2. Pituitary Hormones and Their Control by the Hypothalamus
3. Thyroid Metabolic Hormones
4. Adrenocortical Hormones
5. Insulin, Glucagon, and Diabetes Mellitus
6. Parathyroid Hormone, Calcitonin, Calcium and Phosphate Metabolism, Vitamin D, Bone, and Teeth
7. Reproductive and Hormonal Functions of the Male (and Function of the Pineal Gland)
8. Female Physiology Before Pregnancy and Female Hormones
9. Pregnancy and Lactation
10. Fetal and Neonatal Physiology

Unit XV - Sports Physiology

1. Sports Physiology

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Unit I - Introduction to Physiology: The Cell and General Physiology

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Chapter 1 - Functional Organization of the Human Body & Control of the Internal Environment

The Internal Environment

• Body cells live in extracellular fluid (ECF) - called the "internal environment" or milieu intérieur (Claude Bernard)
• ECF is essentially a modified seawater bath supplying nutrients and removing waste from every cell
• Two main ECF compartments:
  • Interstitial fluid - surrounds cells directly
  • Plasma - ECF inside blood vessels

How the ECF stays stocked (Origin of nutrients)

Homeostasis

• Definition: Maintenance of a nearly constant internal environment
• Coined by Walter Cannon
• All organs work together to maintain it
• Negative feedback is the dominant mechanism - it opposes deviations and restores the set point
  • Example: BP rises → baroreceptors fire → heart rate slows → BP returns to normal

Control System Components (exam favorite!)

1. Sensor/Receptor - detects the variable
2. Control center (comparator) - compares to set point
3. Effector - acts to correct the deviation

Negative vs Positive Feedback

Exam tip: Positive feedback is NOT always harmful. Blood clotting, childbirth uterine contractions, and nerve action potentials are normal, useful positive feedback loops.

Gain of a Control System

• Gain = Correction / Error remaining
• Higher gain = more precise correction
• The arterial pressure control system has a gain of about 1 to 2 (moderate), but the body uses multiple overlapping control systems together for tighter regulation

Physiological Variability

• "Normal" is not a single value - circadian rhythms, sex, age, weight, genetics all affect normal ranges
• Classic physiology textbook uses a 70-kg lean young male as reference, but this is outdated
• Sex differences matter: total body water ~60% in males vs ~50% in females; drug doses and disease presentations differ

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Chapter 2 - The Cell and Its Functions

Cell Structure - High-Yield Organelles

Cell Membrane

• Lipid bilayer - phospholipid heads face outward (hydrophilic), tails face inward (hydrophobic)
• Integral proteins - span the membrane; act as channels, carriers, receptors
• Peripheral proteins - attached to surface; function as enzymes
• Glycocalyx - carbohydrate coat on outer surface
  • Functions: cell-cell attachment, hormone receptors (e.g., insulin), immune reactions, gives cells a negative surface charge

Endocytosis vs Exocytosis

Opsonization (exam favorite!): Bacteria coated with antibodies → antibodies attach to phagocyte receptors → phagocytosis triggered. Antibodies acting this way = opsonins.

Amoeboid Motion & Chemotaxis

• White blood cells and macrophages move by amoeboid locomotion
• Driven by actin-myosin contraction + pseudopodium formation, powered by ATP
• Chemotaxis: cells move toward chemical signals (positive chemotaxis = toward source)
• Cancer cells (especially sarcomas) use this to metastasize

Cell Reproduction (Mitosis)

• Interphase (G1, S, G2): DNA replication occurs during S phase
• Mitosis phases: Prophase → Metaphase → Anaphase → Telophase
• Each daughter cell gets a full copy of 46 chromosomes (diploid)
• Telomeres shorten with each division → eventual cell senescence

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Chapter 3 - Genetic Control of Protein Synthesis, Cell Function, and Cell Reproduction

The Central Dogma

DNA (nucleus) → Transcription → mRNA → Translation (ribosome) → Protein

DNA Structure

• Double helix made of nucleotides
• Bases: A-T, G-C (adenine-thymine, guanine-cytosine)
• Human genome: ~20,000-25,000 genes
• Genetic code = triplets (codons) of 3 bases = 1 amino acid

Transcription (nucleus)

• DNA strands separate → RNA polymerase reads template strand → builds mRNA
• RNA uses Uracil (U) instead of Thymine (T)
• mRNA carries the genetic code from nucleus → cytoplasm through nuclear pores

Translation (ribosome)

• mRNA codon is read by ribosome
• tRNA brings the matching amino acid (anticodon pairs with codon)
• Amino acids join via peptide bonds → polypeptide chain → protein
• One amino acid costs 1 ATP + GTP to attach

Types of RNA

Gene Regulation (exam favorite!)

• Not all genes are active in all cells - differential gene expression explains why a heart cell and kidney cell (same DNA) behave differently
• Two levels of regulation:
  1. Genetic regulation - controls whether a gene is transcribed (on/off)
  2. Enzyme regulation - controls enzyme activity of already-formed proteins
• Activators and repressors bind to promoter regions on DNA to turn genes on/off

Mutations

• Point mutation: single base change → wrong amino acid → altered/non-functional protein
• Frame-shift mutation: insertion or deletion → entire reading frame shifts → usually non-functional protein
• Mutations in somatic cells → cancer risk
• Mutations in germ cells → hereditary disease

Cell Cycle & Cancer

• Normal cells stop dividing when they reach a boundary (contact inhibition)
• Cancer cells lose contact inhibition → uncontrolled proliferation
• Proto-oncogenes → when mutated become oncogenes → drive cancer
• Tumor suppressor genes (e.g., p53) → when mutated → cancer

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Quick Unit I Exam Summary Table