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Anatomy – SpineUniverse

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The spinal column, better known as your backbone, is a strong yet flexible multipurpose structure. It holds the weight of your head and torso and allows you to move in many directions. If it were nothing but a straight, inflexible rod, we'd walk like robots from bad B-movies. Instead, the flexible spine (moved and supported by muscles) enables us to twist and hit a golf ball and bend over to tie our shoes.

The bony spinal column surrounds your spinal cord much like a conduit around an electrical cord. It protects the all-important spinal cord, a bundle of nerves that run from your brain through your spinal column and branch out to the rest of the body.

Technically speaking, the spinal column includes 34 bones. Twenty-four bones are articulated vertebrae bones (a singular bone is a vertebra). At the bottom of the spinal column are the remaining bones, the naturally fused vertebrae of the sacrum and coccyx, which join with your pelvis (hip bones). When healthcare professionals refer to the spine, they're generally talking about the 24 vertebrae that form an elegant, double-S shaped line.

Definition Articulation refers to the motion that occurs between joints. For example, certain facet joints in the spine allow for up, down, side to side, and twisting movements.

Spine's Vertebral Bones Vertebral bones have different shapes and sizes and they get larger farther down the column. There are differences, but there are also plenty of similarities. Each vertebra has a large, cylinder-shaped body and a vertebral arch. The arch can be further subdivided into the spinous process (the bone that you can feel sticking out) and facet joints that wing out to the sides. Seen from above, a vertebra looks like a giant head with three pieces sticking out and a hole in the middle. Muscles, ligaments, and discs attach to various parts of a vertebra.

The space between the vertebral body and the arch is the spinal canal, for your spinal cord. If this canal narrows, due to disease, for example, it can squeeze the spinal cord and cause pain. Remember, your spinal cord is a bundle of nerves and nerves carry pain signals. There are other openings among the stacked vertebrae, too. Spaces called intervertebral foramina are where nerve roots branch out of the spinal cord.

Definition Intervertebral foramina are the holes through which the nerves leave the spine. These holes are the spaces between the upper and lower vertebral bodies. The space is naturally rather narrow. If the space narrows more due to trauma, disease, or deterioration, nerves can get pinched.

Curves Improve Spinal Column Strength Finally, let's take a look at the spinal column as a whole. When healthcare professionals refer to the different part of the spine, they reference them by the four main areas (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral). Each bone within an area has its own number. The spine is naturally curved. These curves make the spinal column stronger, help absorb shock from running and jumping, and help you maintain your balance. The size of the curves varies by individuals, but excessive curves can cause problems.

Jason Highsmith, MD is a practicing neurosurgeon in Charleston, NC and the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Back Pain. Click here for more information about the book.

Updated on: 03/03/14

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Anatomy - SpineUniverse

Anatomy – ScienceDaily

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Anatomy is the branch of biology that is the consideration of the structure of living things.

It is a general term that can include human anatomy, animal anatomy (zootomy) and plant anatomy (phytotomy).

In some of its facets anatomy is closely related to embryology, comparative anatomy and comparative embryology, through common roots in evolution.

Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy (or macroscopic anatomy) and microscopic anatomy.

Gross anatomy is the study of anatomical structures that can be seen by unaided vision.

Microscopic anatomy is the study of minute anatomical structures assisted with microscopes, which includes histology (the study of the organization of tissues), and cytology (the study of cells).

Anatomy should not be confused with anatomical pathology (also called morbid anatomy or histopathology), which is the study of the gross and microscopic appearances of diseased organs.

Human anatomy, including gross human anatomy and histology, is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the adult human body.

Generally, students of certain biological sciences, paramedics, physiotherapists, nurses and medical students learn gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy from anatomical models, skeletons, textbooks, diagrams, photographs, lectures and tutorials.

The study of microscopic anatomy (or histology) can be aided by practical experience examining histological preparations (or slides) under a microscope; and in addition, medical students generally also learn gross anatomy with practical experience of dissection and inspection of cadavers (dead human bodies).

Human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are complementary basic medical sciences, which are generally taught to medical students in their first year at medical school.

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Anatomy - ScienceDaily

Khan Academy: Human anatomy and physiology

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Get introduced to all of the major organ systems of the body. You'll learn some general anatomy (roadmap for your body), and how the organs work to keep you alive! Watch some videos, read some articles, try some flashcards, and then quiz yourself!

No organ quite symbolizes love like the heart. One reason may be that your heart helps you live, by moving ~5 liters (1.3 gallons) of blood through almost 100,000 kilometers (62,000 miles) of blood vessels every single minute! It has to do this all day, everyday, without ever taking a vacation! Now that is true love. Learn about how the heart works, how blood flows through the heart, where the blood goes after it leaves the heart, and what your heart is doing when it makes the sound Lub Dub.

Two circulations in the body

The heart is a double pump

Thermoregulation in the circulatory system

Arteries vs. veins - what's the difference?

Arteries, arterioles, venules, and veins

Circulatory system and the heart

Introductory circulatory system quiz

Intermediate Circulatory System Quiz

Advanced circulatory system quiz

Did you know that your right lung is larger than your left? Thats because the majority of your heart is on the left side of your body, and your left lung is slightly smaller to accommodate it. The lungs take in oxygen and help you breathe out carbon dioxide. Humans have an intricate respiratory system, with hundreds of millions of tiny air sacs called alveoli, where all of the magic happens. These videos will introduce you to the lungs, and show how they help you survive.

How does lung volume change?

Thermoregulation in the lungs

The lungs and pulmonary system

Introductory respiratory system quiz

Intermediate respiratory system quiz

Advanced respiratory system quiz

If you want to learn more about the renal system, then urine the right place! (Pun aside, the kidneys are about more than just making urine). Every thirty minutes, your kidneys filter the entire blood supply in your body. Imagine a dirty pool filled with algae. Placing a filter in this pool will cause the algae to be flushed out, and after a time youll have a clean, crisp blue pool to enjoy. Just like the filter for a pool, our kidneys filter the blood and remove toxic wastes. These paired organs are key to maintaining electrolyte and water homeostasis in your body.

Kidney function and anatomy

Glomerular filtration in the nephron

Changing glomerular filtration rate

Countercurrent multiplication in the kidney

Secondary active transport in the nephron

Introductory urinary system quiz

Roughly 5 L of blood fill your arteries, veins, capillaries, and venules. Whats it good for you ask? It carries oxygen to help your cells carry out respiration in addition to a number of other substances like lipids and hormones throughout the body. In cases of blood loss, such as trauma situations, the physician must be wary of the different blood types. We will explore the intricacies of the hematologic system here.

Life and times of RBCs and platelets

Hemoglobin moves O2 and CO2

Fetal hemoglobin and hematocrit

How do we make blood clots?

Bohr effect vs. Haldane effect

Chances are, youve had a fever or a cough at least once in your life (unless you live in a bubble, in which case you should probably go out more!) Have you ever wondered why your body reacts this way? Your body has a deadly arsenal of weapons against microbial invaders, ranging from bacteria and viruses to protozoans and fungi. We have specialized cells that destroy foreign bodies through mechanisms such as consumption, expulsion, and degradation. You will become acquainted with the interplay of the numerous soldiers in your bodys army and how they keep you healthy!

Role of phagocytes in innate or nonspecific immunity

Types of immune responses: Innate and adaptive. humoral vs. cell-mediated

Professional antigen presenting cells (APC) and MHC II complexes

Review of B cells, CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells

Self vs. non-self immunity

How white blood cells move around

Do you live to eat, or eat to live? Folks fall on both sides of this question, but who deny the powerful role that food and water play in our everyday lives. If we were cars, food and water would be the gasoline. Eating keeps us moving, laughing, playing, and learning. The energy from food is carefully extracted through a process of ingestion, digestion, and absorption, and requires one long (very long!) tube with a couple of key organs (liver, pancreas) sprouting off of it. Go ahead and grab a bite to eat before we get started

Meet the gastrointestinal tract!

Small intestine 1: Structure

Small intestine 2: Digestion

Small intestine 3: Absorption

Neurons transmit information to one another through electrochemical signals. They make up the motor nerves that allow you to type an essay, the sensory nerves that let you feel a fluffy dog, and your brain, allowing to remember the content of this module. They have a number of helper cells, ranging from astrocytes, to microglia, to ependymal cells as well. You will come to appreciate the structure and function of neurons and the comrade cells which help to maintain the optimal function of the nervous system.

Introduction to neural cell types

Overview of neuron structure

Overview of neuron function

Correction to sodium-potassium pump video

Electrotonic and action potentials

Saltatory conduction in neurons

Neuronal synapses (chemical)

Types of neurotransmitters

Types of neurotransmitter receptors

Structure of the nervous system

Functions of the nervous system

Peripheral somatosensation

Muscles never sleep (literally). If you have ever taken a breath, you have benefited from the work of the diaphragm, which contracts to create an area of low pressure within your thoracic cavity, allowing air in. How exactly are some weightlifters able to support 717 lbs without breaking anything more than a little sweat? Fun fact: the largest muscle in your body is the gluteus maximus (thats your butt) while the smallest skeletal muscle is the stapedius (it stabilizes the smallest bone, the stapes, which is in your middle ear).

How tropomyosin and troponin regulate muscle contraction

Role of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in muscle cells

Neuromuscular junction, motor end-plate

Type 1 and type 2 muscle fibers

Calcium puts myosin to work

Autonomic vs somatic nervous system

Thermoregulation by muscles

Introductory musculatory system quiz

Advanced musculatory system quiz

Were it not for your skeleton, you and I would be a mere sack of flesh. You will come to appreciate that the bones, together with muscles, are a scaffolding for your body. We will also explore their endocrine function, especially with regards to calcium and phosphate homeostasis. Fun fact: the bone most broken is the clavicle (AKA collar bone).

Skeletal structure and function

Microscopic structure of bone - the Haversian system

Cellular structure of bone

Skeletal endocrine control

Ligaments, tendons, and joints

Glands are special organs that secrete chemical messages called hormones, which seep into the blood - its like putting a tea bag in hot water. As the heart pumps, this blood carries these chemical messages throughout the body, allowing the hormones to interact with specific target cells and organs. Endocrine glands help us to maintain our appetites, grow up, metabolize molecules, concentrate urine,- and oh, so much more! We will examine how these variegated hormones play a role in homeostasis as the body responds to a changing environment.

Endocrine gland hormone review

The hypothalamus and pituitary gland

Hormone
concentration metabolism and negative feedback

Cellular mechanism of hormone action

There is really more than meets the eye with skin. Yes, it does make us look nicer than a bag of bones, muscles, and organs. But it also serves other important purposes which range from guarding the body against infection to sensation to allowing for metabolism of vitamin D. We will explore the structure and function of skin from the macroscopic to the microscopic level in this tutorial.

Meet the skin! (Overview)

What is skin? (Epidermis)

What lies beneath the epidermis? (Dermis and Hypodermis)

Where do our nails and hair come from?

What's in sweat? (Holocrine, Apocrine, Merocrine Glands)

LeBron Asks: Why does sweating cool you down?

Overview of Sensation and Meissner's Corpuscle

Pacinian's Corpuscle and Merkel's Disk

Ruffini's Ending and Hair Follicle Receptor

Thermoregulation by muscles

Your heart pumps roughly 20 L of blood throughout the day to your tissues. The plasma component of blood (not containing blood cells) leaks out through capillaries (the tiniest of blood vessels) and is mostly reabsorbed. However, about 3L of the plasma is left behind in fluid surrounding tissues, and it is the job of the hard-working lymphatic system to bring back this fluid to the circulatory system. The lymphatic system moves fluid in one direction, but without the force of a pump like the heart.

Why we need a lymphatic system

How lymphatic vessels move fluid

The lymphatic system's role in immunity

Lipid and protein transport in the lymphatic system

What is actually in lymph

Our genes are survivors. Even though a person might die, his or her genes will go on to the next generation and then the next generation Some genes are exactly the same as the ones in your great-great-great-grandmother! Yet, with the exception of identical twins, we are all genetically distinct from our family members. Starting with sexual reproduction and then the development of a baby, were going to take a journey that starts with our own microscopic beginning, and ends with a fully formed baby entering the world.

Welcome to the reproductive system

Anatomy of the male reproductive system

Transport of sperm via erection and ejaculation

Basics of egg development

Reproductive cycle graph - Follicular phase

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Khan Academy: Human anatomy and physiology

Anatomy – New World Encyclopedia

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Anatomy may refer either to the internal structure and organization of an organism, to any of the parts of an organism, or to the branch of biology that studies the internal structure and organization of living things and their parts. Such meanings of anatomy are synonymous with internal morphology (Towle 1989), which is to be distinguished from general morphology with its focus on external structure.

Since the function of a part is related to its structure, anatomy naturally is related to physiology, which refers either to the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms and their parts or to the study of those functions.

Anatomy comprises the subdivisions of animal anatomy and plant anatomy (or phytotomy). (Study of external plant structure is known as plant morphology.) Anatomy may also be subdivided either regionally or systemically; that is, relating to particular bodily regions, such as the head and chest, or to specific systems, such as the nervous or respiratory systems.

Major branches of the science of anatomy include comparative anatomy, cytology, histology, and human anatomy. Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the structure and organization of organisms; cytology is the study of cells and examines their internal anatomy; and histology is the study of aggregates of cells called tissues. Human anatomy, or anthropotomy, is a special field within anatomy and studies structures and systems of the human body.

The term anatomy comes from the Greek anatomia, from anatemnein, meaning to cut up or cut open.

Like all fields of knowledge, anatomy is necessarily tied to a conceptual framework. Galen, the Greek anatomist whose anatomical studies and conceptual framework undergirded Western medicine for 15 centuries, taught that the blood moved to and from the heart under the impetus of Aristotle's substance "quintessence," and that three human soulsvegetative, animal, and rationalresided respectively in the liver, the heart, and the brain, the three largest solid organs in the body. Galen's anatomy and medical model remained largely intact until the publication by Andrea Vesalius in 1543 of his detailed drawings of human anatomy, which became the basis for a radical revisioning of human physiology and of medical treatment. (Bergland, 1985)

From the time of Vesalius, anatomy has been a key field of scientific investigation that from one perspective has been stripping away the vestiges of mystery and wonder about the human body. Yet as anatomical studies reveal the human body components, the studies also open the challenge of how these multiple layers of components achieve their integrated functioning and how they could have come to exist.

The history of anatomy as a science extends from the earliest examinations of sacrificial victims to the sophisticated analysis of the body performed by modern scientists. It has been marked, over time, by a continually developing understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body. Methods have also advanced dramatically, from examination of animals, through dissection of cadavers, and on to technologically complex techniques developed in the twentieth century. The following is largely a history centered on the developing science of studying human anatomy.

The study of anatomy began at least as early as 1600 B.C.E., the date of the ancient Egyptian Edwin Smith papyrus. This treatise identifies the heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, uterus, and bladder, and indicates that blood vessels come from the heart. Other vessels are described, some carrying air, some mucus, while two to the right ear are said to carry the "breath of life," and two to the left ear the "breath of death." The Ebers papyrus (c. 1550 B.C.E.) features a treatise on the heart. It notes that the heart is the center of the blood supply, with vessels attached for every member of the body. The Egyptians seem to have known little about the function of the kidneys and made the heart the meeting point of a number of vessels that carried all the fluids of the bodyblood, tears, urine, and sperm (Porter 1997).

The earliest medical scientist of whose works any great part survives today is Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician active in the late fifth and early fourth centuries B.C.E. (460-377 B.C.E.). His work demonstrates a basic understanding of musculoskeletal structure, and the beginnings of understanding of the function of certain organs, such as the kidneys. Much of his work, however, and much of that of his students and followers later, relies on speculation rather than empirical observation of the body.

In the fourth century B.C.E., Aristotle and several contemporaries produced a more empirically founded system, based on dissection of animals. Works produced around this time are the first to identify the difference between arteries and veins, and the relations between organs are described more accurately than in previous works.

The first use of human cadavers for anatomical research occurred later in the fourth century B.C.E. when Herophilos and Erasistratus performed dissections of cadavers in Alexandria under the auspices of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Herophilos in particular developed a body of anatomical knowledge much more informed by the actual structure of the human body than previous works had been.

The final major anatomist of ancient times was Galen, active in the second century. He compiled much of the knowledge obtained by previous writers, and furthered the inquiry into the function of organs by performing vivisection on animals. His collection of drawings, based mostly on dog anatomy, became the anatomy textbook for 1500 years. The original text is long gone, and his work was only known to the Renaissance doctors through the careful custody of Arabic medicine, since the Roman Catholic Church destroyed the work as heresy. Hampered by the same religious restrictions as anatomists for centuries after him, Galen assumed that anatomical structures in dogs were the same as for humans.[1]

Little progress was made in anatomy for some time after the fall of the Roman empire. Although Arab scientists contributed heavily to medieval learning and culture, taboos against handling corpses limited their contributions to anatomical research. The first major development in anatomy after Galen occurred at Bologna in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, where a series of authors dissected cadavers and further contributed to the accurate description of organs and the identification of their functions. Prominent among these anatomists were Mondino de Liuzzi and Alessandro Achillini.

The sixteenth century also saw the first challenges to Galen. Thanks to the printing press, all over Europe a collective effort proceeded to distill the original Galen from the various, mostly Arab, added texts. Vesalius was the first to publish a treatise that challenged him "drawing for drawing," traveling all the way from Leuven[2] to Padua for permission to dissect victims from the gallows without fear of persecution. His drawings are triumphant descriptions of the, sometimes major, discrepancies between dogs and humans, showing superb drawing ability. Many later anatomists challenged Galen in their texts, though Galen reigned supreme for another century.

A succession of researchers proceeded to further refine the body of anatomical knowledge, giving their names to a number of anatomical structures along the way. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries also witnessed significant advances in the understanding of the circulatory system, as the purpose of valves in veins was identified, the left-to-right ventricle flow of blood through the circulatory system was described, and the hepatic veins were identified as a separate portion of the circulatory system. The lymphatic system was also identified as a separate system at this time.

The study of anatomy flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. With the aid of the printing pres
s, the exchange of ideas across Europe was easily facilitated. Since the study of anatomy concerned observation and drawings, the popularity of the anatomist was equal to the quality of his drawing talents, and one need not be an expert in Latin to take part. [3] Many famous artists studied anatomy, attended dissections, and published drawings for money, from Michelangelo to Rembrandt. For the first time, prominent universities could teach something about anatomy through drawings, rather than relying on knowledge of Latin.

The only stumbling block was a possible reprimand from the Church, which frightened several anatomists of that time from performing dissections on their own kind. Though a very fruitful period for the sciences, the Renaissance could be dangerous, as is seen in the case of Galileo. Some scientists of the time were scared enough to keep moving from city to city. Descartes is a prime example. Though all physicians agreed that a sound knowledge of anatomy was important to perform medicine, only certified anatomists were allowed to perform dissections, sometimes only yearly. These dissections were sponsored by the city councilors and often charged an admission fee, rather like a circus act for scholars. Many European cities, such as Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen, Padua, and Paris, all had Royal anatomists (or some such office) tied to local government. Indeed, Nicolaes Tulp was Mayor of Amsterdam for three terms. Though it was a risky business to perform dissections, attending dissections was perfectly legal, and many anatomy students traveled around Europe from dissection to dissection during the course of their study.

Many Europeans interested in the study of anatomy traveled to Italy, where the center of anatomy resided. Only in Italy could certain important research methods, such as dissections on women, be used. M. R. Columbus and Gabriele Falloppio were pupils of Vesalius, the sixteenth century anatomist. Columbus, as his immediate successor in Padua, and afterwards professor at Rome, distinguished himself by rectifying and improving the anatomy of the bones; by giving correct accounts of the shape and cavities of the heart, of the pulmonary artery and aorta and their valves, and tracing the course of the blood from the right to the left side of the heart; by a good description of the brain and its vessels, and by correct understanding of the internal ear, and the first good account of the ventricles of the larynx. Osteology at nearly the same time found an assiduous cultivator in Giovanni Filippo Ingrassias.

The Nineteenth century saw anatomists largely finalize and systematize the descriptive human anatomy of the previous century. The discipline also progressed to establish growing sources of knowledge in histology and developmental biology, not only of humans but also of animals. Extensive research took place in a growing number of areas, with England being a particular center of research. Demand for cadavers grew so great that body-snatching and even murder came into use as a means of obtaining them. In response, parliament passed the Anatomy Act of 1832, which finally provided for an adequate and legitimate supply of corpses. The relaxed restrictions on dissection provided the groundwork for Gray's Anatomy, a text that was a collective effort and became widely popular. Now seen as unwieldy, Gray's Anatomy was born out of a need to create a single volume on anatomy for the traveling doctor.

Anatomical research in the past hundred years has taken advantage of technological developments and growing understanding of sciences such as molecular biology to create a thorough understanding of the body's organs and structures. While disciplines such as endocrinology have explained the purpose of glands that previous anatomists could not explain, medical devices such as MRI machines and CAT scanners have enabled researchers to study the organs of living people. Progress today in anatomy is centered in the field of molecular biology, as the macroscopic aspects of the field have now been cataloged and addressed.

All links retrieved October 4, 2012.

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  1. Anatomy