What kind of science is anatomy

This also made him the first person to prove that specific parts of the brain were related to certain functions in the systems of the human body. Georges Cuvier was the founding father of comparative anatomy and paleontology. His work on the study of marine invertebrates as a tutor was sent to the Museum of Natural History in Paris where he was then encouraged to become a member of their team.

He was the first to break down animals into subcategories based on their systems in the body. This rejected the typical anatomical organization that was used prior to the 18th century and helped others to explore the fact that animals are anatomically different and why this could be.

All this and more helped Curvier to build the foundation of paleontology as a science. One of the subdivisions of anatomy is gross anatomy. This deals with the study of anatomy that you can see with the naked eye on a macroscopic level.

Gross anatomy complements cytology and histology. Cytology involves the study of cells as the first basic unit of life whereas histology is the study of tissues and their structures. Macroscopic anatomy is further divided into surface, regional and systemic anatomy. These deal with outside of the body, regions of the body and specific body systems respectively.

When we study surface anatomy, we do not need to dissect to learn and observe. This subdivision looks at the external body form and what it does in order to allow the body to function while protecting the internal structures. Regional anatomy looks at specific sections of the body and how they work together to carry out numerous functions.

The gastrointestinal system and the circulatory system are both examples of the eleven 11 body systems that are focused upon when dealing with systemic anatomy. The study of the structure of organisms at a microscopic level is microscopic anatomy. Microscopic anatomy is sometimes used interchangeably with histology but that is incorrect as microscopic anatomy includes both histology and cytology.

Histology studies how cells are the building blocks of the body and so develop from cells to tissues into organs and organ systems. These different levels of development come together to create a living thing. However, microscopic anatomy deals with only tissues and smaller entities since these are the only ones that can fit under the microscope.

As said above, microscopic anatomy involves both histology and cytology. Both of these involve the thin slicing of organs to obtain specimens for the microscopes. This can be done on either live or dead cells and tissues. These are then dyed in order to obtain a contrast and visibility between different organelles and components of the cells and tissues. This method makes the studying of the anatomy of miniature body parts easier to do.

Aside from macroscopic and microscopic anatomy, there are many other branches of anatomy. The five main ones are embryology , developmental anatomy , radiographic anatomy, and pathological anatomy.

As the name implies, embryology is the study of the embryo of an animal. An embryo exists during the period of time from which the egg is fertilized to the eighth week of the life of an organism. It is often described as the basis for the comprehension of how nervous systems and other crucial parts of the animal develop and function. This study has also in recent times, helped with the study of stem cells and how they can relate to cancer.

The study of developmental anatomy is a wider and longer study than embryology as it studies from the moment of fertilization all the way into adulthood. This study puts the anatomy meaning into perspective as it concentrates on all aspects of the body form. Radiographic anatomy uses radiology in the form of x-rays to study the body and all its systems and organs.

Simply put, the study of anatomy is the study of an organism's form and parts. Dissecting the term itself reveals the origins of its parts. The first part, ana-, means "up" in Greek. The second part of the word, -tomy, means "a cutting. These structures, which disappear before birth, may be anatomical remnants of our evolutionary ancestors that disappear during the early stages of development, the authors suggest.

The fabella, a tiny bone located in a tendon behind the knee, is becoming more common in humans, according to a study published last spring. After reviewing 58 studies on fabella prevalence in 27 different countries, researchers reported that people were approximately 3.

The cause of this trend remains an open question, but the authors suggest that changes in muscle mass and bone length—driven by increased diet quality in many parts of the world—could be one explanation. Diana Kwon is a Berlin-based freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter DianaMKwon. The drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described[4] by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura.

This resistance stabilizes the body by regulating the internal environment, even as the external environment changes. A stable internal environment is needed for normal physiological function and survival of a living system. Maintaining a stable internal environment requires constant monitoring, mostly by the brain and nervous system. The brain, more specifically the hypothalamus, receives information from the body and responds appropriately through the release of chemical messengers such as neurotransmitters, catecholamines, and hormones.

These chemical messengers signal individual organs to change their functions in order to maintain homeostasis for the whole body. For instance, if blood oxygen levels are too low, the brain signals the muscles controlling the lungs to breathe faster to increase oxygen intake.

The brain also signals the heart to beat faster so other organs and tissues receive the oxygen they need. When oxygen levels return to normal, the brain signals the lungs and heart to return to their normal rates of function, a process called feedback. Traditionally, the academic discipline of physiology views the body as a collection of interacting systems, each with its own combination of functions and purposes.

Each system contributes to the homeostasis of other systems and of the entire organism. No system works in isolation, and the well-being of the person depends upon the well-being of the interactions between body systems.

The traditional divisions by system are somewhat arbitrary. Many organs participate in more than one system such as the heart and kidney , and systems might be organized by function, by embryological origin, or by other categorizations. For instance, the neuroendocrine system is the complex interactions of the neurological and endocrinological systems.

Together, the neuroendocrine system regulates many physiological processes, including those that maintain homeostasis. Furthermore, many aspects of physiology are not easily categorized by traditional definitions of organ systems because they are composed of interactions between organs in multiple organ systems. The study of how physiology is altered in disease is pathophysiology.