Study Guide – General Physiology

Final Exam Fall 2007  

FINAL EXAM IS TUESDAY, December 11, FROM 7:30AM TILL 9:30AM.  You can come later than 7:30, but you can't work on the test after 9:30.  Take home exam is due when you come to take the final.

Autonomic Nervous System

Understand the dual nature of the autonomic n.s., its anatomical and neurotransmitter differences.  Be able to give an example of an organ or organ function that is regulated by the autonomic n.s.

  Why Why can we say that when the sympathetic n.s. is activated, that there is an even greater response that what one would expect from just the activation of a few neurons?

WhatWhat are the major second messenger systems?  Where in these pathways does the  neurotransmitter signal get amplified?  What purpose does amplification serve?

Mu        Muscle

What are the major types of muscle?  How are they similar?  How are they different?

How is skeletal muscle “put together” in terms of component parts?  What function does each part perform?  How is its performance related to the overall function of the muscle?

How does muscular contraction occur in smooth vs. cardiac vs. skeletal muscle?  What ingredients are seen in all three contractile mechanisms?  Understand the cross-bridge cycle.  Understand what regulates the onset of contraction in all three types of muscle.

What is the significance of the length-tension curve?  What generalizations about muscle length can be made from this curve?

What metabolic pathways are used to supply energy for muscular contraction and what processes involved in contraction require this energy?  How is muscular fatigue connected with energy demand/supply?

Cardiac Output and Its Regulation

Be able to describe the difference between end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, and stroke volume.  What are some things that could influence these volumes?

Be able to correlate ECG waveforms, force generation, filling and emptying, and other cardiac events with one another (i.e. valves opening, valves closing)

During the cardiac cycle, there is a period of isovolumic contraction.  When does this occur and why is this particular portion of systole important?

What is cardiac output?  What does cardiac output tell you about heart function?

What are some of the major factors that influence cardiac output?  Which factors would be in effect during exercise?  During an excursion to altitude?

What is an inotropic agent?  How do inotropic agents affect cardiac output?  Through what cellular mechanism?

What is the Frank-Starling law of the heart?  How does this law relate to cardiac output?  How does it relate to the length/tension relationship found in skeletal muscle?

Blood Flow, Blood Pressure and their Regulation (what we get to in class)

What are the major factors that influence blood flow through the vascular system?

What are the major differences between the different blood vessels?  What is important about these differences?

 What are some of the factors that can affect constriction and dilation of vessels?  Which of these factors are local control mechanisms, and when would they be used?

Why are veins called capacitance vessels?  Why do you think that a phlebotomist (a person who draws blood) uses your veins rather than your arteries? 

What factors determine blood pressure?  What helps sustain the pressure as blood moves from your heart through your arteries?  Are the systolic and diastolic pressures you measure when taking blood pressure accurate reflections of the pressures generated in the heart?  Why or why not?  Be sure you can identify which part of the cardiac cycle coincides with maximal systolic pressure, and which with lowest diastolic pressure. 

What is hypertension?  What does it mean if you have a blood pressure of 160/100? 

What factors determine resistance in the systemic circulation?  Where is the location of most of the variable resistance in your circulation?  

Final Presentations:

You are responsible for BASIC information presented during class.  On the final exam, you will be asked to write one essay question on your group's project and a question on one other groups' project (in addition to a couple of questions from the topics shown above).

General Information from Labs - be sure you understand the basic connections between lab exercises and information presented in lecture.