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<h2>Negative Feedback Control</h2> <p>In animals such as ourselves, the internal environment of our bodies must have certain conditions within tolerable limits to continue the healthy functioning of us.</p> <p>This is done by a process called negative <a href="/dictionary/feedback_mechanism">feedback</a> control, where various receptors and effectors bring about a reaction to ensure that such conditions remain favourable. In this tutorial, we investigate the control of blood sugar concentrations, water concentrations and temperature.</p> <p>The principle of negative feedback control is illustrated by the diagram below</p> <p><img alt="Principle of Negative Feedback Control" src="/images/physio1.gif"></p> <p>This occurrence is known as physiological homeostasis, translating in layman's terms to the physical equilibrium. It is essentially a corrective mechanism, consider the following scenario in a person</p> <ul><li>The level of glucose in the bloodstream drops </li> <li>The person requires glucose in cells to meet the demand for ATP </li> <li>The body detects this with a particular receptor designed for this function </li> <li>These receptors release hormones, chemical messages that initiate the start of the feedback mechanism </li> <li>The hormones travel to their target tissue and initiate a corrective response </li> <li>In this case, the corrective response is the secretion of more glucose into the bloodstream </li> </ul><h2>Requirement of Negative Feedback Control</h2> <p>Because mammals are warm blooded, the enzymes that are part of their make-up as a warm blooded animal require a certain temperature to operate optimally. Also, the water concentration of a cell and its chemical concentration must remain at a certain level to allow normal cellular processes to occur.</p> <p>In light of this, the feedback mechanism in such warm blooded animals is essential in regards to allowing the body to work in optimal conditions - so any change in from the norm in temperature is corrected by the feedback mechanism.</p> <h2>Advantages of Homeostasis</h2> <p>Homeostasis has survival value because it means an animal can adapt to a changing environment. It can deal with the temperature difference you face when you step our your front door.</p> <p>The body will attempt to maintain a norm, the desired level of a factor to achieve homeostasis. However, it can only work within tolerable limits, where extreme conditions can disable the negative feedback mechanism</p> <p>In these instances, death can result, unless medical treatment is executed to bring about the natural occurrence of these feedback mechanisms</p> <p>The following page looks at regulation of blood sugar concentration and temperature regulation in detail.</p>
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