Human and Animal Physiology

Human and Animal Physiology is a 6 credits course that is closely related to the course Zoology (EZO10306 for BBI students and EZO10806 for BAS students) and continues on the functioning of organ systems. All these organ systems together are critical for all individual mammals to 1) function, 2) be able to maintain its internal environment (within certain limits), and 3) to adapt to the demands of the environment. The course is organized in themes, each theme dealing with metabolism and organ systems at the cellular, tissue and organismal level. The emphasis will be on the relationship between morphology, physiology and regulation of these organ systems. Each theme will be introduced during a lecture explaining the anatomy and physiology of the organ system involved and sometimes focused on certain specific details. The gained knowledge will then be practiced, repeated and deepened during the morphological, histological and physiological practicals. During a case study, the flexibility of the phenotype will be investigated, reported and presented in a poster, and discussed in an informal poster presentation.

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• Describe the structural organization of vertebrate organ systems, including relevant nomenclature
• Explain the physiology (function and regulation) of these vertebrate organ systems
• Explain the interaction between structure, function and regulation of vertebrate organ systems
• Interpret (scientific) physiological and quantitative data related to vertebrate organ systems
• Describe the evolutionary relationships of the main animal taxa and understand the major vertebrate groups and their biodiversity and adaptations
• Apply scientific techniques to study gross anatomy (dissection techniques), microanatomy (microscopy) and physiological functions (laboratory techniques) and experimental set-ups for in vivo measurements
• Integrate scientific literature and the obtained knowledge on organ systems to answer a scientific research question regarding the anatomical and physiological adaptation of organ systems and animal behavior to changing internal and external conditions

Mandatory Knowledge:
ZSS06100 Laboratory Safety
Assumed Knowledge:
EZO10306 Zoology/EZO10806 Zoology English; CBI10306/CBI10806 (Introduction in) Cell Biology.