Feedback and Homeostasis - Biology

Homeostasis means "staying still" in Greek, and is a property of the human body that describes when functions and processes allow the conditions of the body to remain stable. This does not mean that the body ceases any function. It simply means that the current functions of the body are able to keep the body at a stable condition.

For example, blood glucose in the body is under homeostatic regulation by the hormones insulin and glucagon. Both hormones are always in circulation, meaning that glucose is both being released into the blood and begin taken from the blood for storage. The result is a stable amount of glucose because both processes occur together. When a meal causes blood glucose to rise, insulin levels increase and glucagon levels decrease to accommodate the change, but both hormones are still present. This creates a dynamic equilibrium in which glucose is both retained and released, allowing a stable amount to be in circulation.

A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a reaction by lowering the activation energy needed for the given chemical reaction to occur. Activation energy is the input of energy required for a reaction to occur. This energy is used to break the bonds of the reactant, allowing the reaction to proceed. If a catalyst lowers the amount of energy needed for a reaction to occur, the reaction can occur at a faster rate because it reaches that lower energy level more quickly than it would have the original higher energy level.

The situation describing ATP production is the only one in which there is no problem in need of correction. Homeostasis requires maintenance of a balance. While ATP production is an essential process, the simple function of the ATP synthase proton pump is not directly related to biological stability in homeostasis.

All other answers describe situations in which the body corrects a problem or situation and restores balance to internal mechanisms. This is the nature of homeostasis—there is a disruption to the balance, and the body adjusts in order to keep the processes running smoothly.

Negative feedback inhibition occurs when "too much" of a substance results in decreased production of the same or a different substance. If having too much of a protein in a cell results in decreased transcription of the gene encoding the protein, then the protein was regulated by negative feedback. Another example (not listed here) would be the presence of too much sugar in the blood and repression of the glucagon gene to reduce production of sugar by other tissues.

While insulin and glucagon act in a negative feedback system, the question specifically asks for negative feedback inhibition. Turning on genes for insulin or glucagon would play a role in negative feedback, but would qualify as stimulation rather than inhibition.

Homeostasis is the tendency of a system to maintain internal equilibrium. As such, negative feedback is a very important component of homeostasis because negative feedback loops are often self-regulating, and are usually very stable. Negative feedback processes result in reduction to change from equilibrium by inhibiting processes that deviate from equilibrium.

When body temperature rises, negative feedback through thermoregulation helps to cool the body back to equilibrium temperature. This is achieved through peripheral vasodilation, increased breathing rate, and sweating.

In contrast, positive feedback is when a process reinforces and amplifies deviations from equilibrium. The luteinizing hormone (LH) surge during ovulation and uterine contractions during child birth are rare examples of positive feedback in biology.

Negative feedback reverses or shuts off a stimulus. When the body is experiencing dehydration, antidiuretic hormone is secreted, which works to decrease urine production, allowing the body to conserve fluids. When the body's fluids are replaced, negative feedback turns off antidiuretic hormone secretion. Catabolism is the breakdown of complex substances into simpler ones to release energy. Osmosis is the movement of water from an area of high concentration into an area of lower concentration. Vasoconstriction is a reduction in the diameter of a blood vessel. Antidiuretic hormone is also called vasopressin because it constricts blood vessels, which decreases urine output. Reabsorption is the taking back into the blood substances that had previously been filtered out from it. This occurs in the kidneys.

Negative feedback is the process of reestablishing a physiological set point. This is a corrective process. For example, during exercise, the body temperature increases. Negative feedback loops help bring the body temperature back down towards the set point of by stimulating perspiration, dilating blood vessels to the extremities, etc. Positive feedback works in a way that exacerbates the effects of a stimulus. For example, during blood clotting, platelets bunch together in the area surrounding a wound. This causes more platelets to "get stuck" on the existing clump of platelets, causing further clotting.

Negative feedback inhibition occurs when "too much" of a substance results in decreased production of the same or a different substance. If having too much of a protein in a cell results in decreased transcription of the gene encoding the protein, then the protein was regulated by negative feedback. Another example (not listed here) would be the presence of too much sugar in the blood and repression of the glucagon gene to reduce production of sugar by other tissues.

While insulin and glucagon act in a negative feedback system, the question specifically asks for negative feedback inhibition. Turning on genes for insulin or glucagon would play a role in negative feedback, but would qualify as stimulation rather than inhibition.

When production of a product in a system then causes more of the same product to be created it is known as positive feedback. In cotrast, when the production of product in a system inhibits additional product production it is known as negative feedback. Positive feedback leads to an exponential increase in the product, without any mediation. Negative feedback holds the product level at an equilibrium amount that is tightly regulated.

As oxytocin is released from the brain during childbirth uterine tension is increased, which further increases the amount of oxytocin created. As oxytocin is released, it stimulates the production of even more oxytocin, consistent with positive feedback.

Oxytocin is one of only very few positive feedback examples in biological systems. Almost all biological compounds are regulated via negative feedback.

During positive feedback the production of an effect stimulates amplification of the same effect. In contrast, during negative feedback the production of an effect stimulates the reduction of the same effect. The result of positive feedback is an exponential increase in the intensity of the effect, while the effect of negative feedback is a form of equilibrium around a constant level.

Oxytocin release during childbirth is one of only a few positive feedback mechanisms in the body. Almost all other processes are modulated by some form of negative feedback.

Contraction of the uterus during childbirth causes the release of oxytocin, which stimulates stronger contractions of the uterus, causing more oxytocin release. This perpetual cycle results in a positive feedback response.

Negative feedback is a system in which change initiates a series of events that tend to counteract the change and restore the original state. This makes negative feedback the essential mechanism for maintaining euqilibrium and homeostasis. When blood sugar levels rise, insulin is released and transports the glucose into the cells, thereby lowering blood glucose levels. When blood sugar levels are low, perhaps in between meals, glucagon is released. Glucagon causes stored glucose to be released, raising blood sugar levels. When you prespire and lose water, antidiuretic hormone is released causing your kidneys to reabsorb water. If blood caclium levels become too high, the thyroid releases calcitonin, which inhibits the release of calcium from the blood. All of these effects serve to counteract the change that initiated the hormone release.

In a positive feedback loop, an increase in quantity A leads to an increase in quantity B. An increase in B then loops back around to increase quantity A in a cycle that continues unless broken in some way.

In this case, the option dealing with climate change and methane is an example of a positive feedback loop because as the climate warms (quantity A increases), more methane is released (quantity B increases). We are told that methane is a greenhouse gas, so as more methane thaws, the climate warms even more. This results in a feedback loop where the more the climate thaws, the more methane is released, the more the climate warms, and so on.

The vast majority of feedback systems are negative, while blood clotting is one of the few positive feedback systems. In positive feedback, the action caused by a stimulus actually enhances itself, rather than being reduced. Blood clots form this way when a blood vessel is damaged. First, platelets start to bind to the injury. Then the platelets begin releasing chemicals that recruit even more platelets to the area to form a clot. Another example of positive feedback is the contraction of the uterus via oxytocin during childbirth.

The only example of a positive feedback loop is labor contractions, since in that case, the output increases the original stimulus. In all of the other answer choices, the body is trying to maintain homeostasis by reversing the effect of the original stimulus.

Homeostasis means "staying still" in Greek, and is a property of the human body that describes when functions and processes allow the conditions of the body to remain stable. This does not mean that the body ceases any function. It simply means that the current functions of the body are able to keep the body at a stable condition.

For example, blood glucose in the body is under homeostatic regulation by the hormones insulin and glucagon. Both hormones are always in circulation, meaning that glucose is both being released into the blood and begin taken from the blood for storage. The result is a stable amount of glucose because both processes occur together. When a meal causes blood glucose to rise, insulin levels increase and glucagon levels decrease to accommodate the change, but both hormones are still present. This creates a dynamic equilibrium in which glucose is both retained and released, allowing a stable amount to be in circulation.

A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a reaction by lowering the activation energy needed for the given chemical reaction to occur. Activation energy is the input of energy required for a reaction to occur. This energy is used to break the bonds of the reactant, allowing the reaction to proceed. If a catalyst lowers the amount of energy needed for a reaction to occur, the reaction can occur at a faster rate because it reaches that lower energy level more quickly than it would have the original higher energy level.

The situation describing ATP production is the only one in which there is no problem in need of correction. Homeostasis requires maintenance of a balance. While ATP production is an essential process, the simple function of the ATP synthase proton pump is not directly related to biological stability in homeostasis.

All other answers describe situations in which the body corrects a problem or situation and restores balance to internal mechanisms. This is the nature of homeostasis—there is a disruption to the balance, and the body adjusts in order to keep the processes running smoothly.

Negative feedback inhibition occurs when "too much" of a substance results in decreased production of the same or a different substance. If having too much of a protein in a cell results in decreased transcription of the gene encoding the protein, then the protein was regulated by negative feedback. Another example (not listed here) would be the presence of too much sugar in the blood and repression of the glucagon gene to reduce production of sugar by other tissues.

While insulin and glucagon act in a negative feedback system, the question specifically asks for negative feedback inhibition. Turning on genes for insulin or glucagon would play a role in negative feedback, but would qualify as stimulation rather than inhibition.

Homeostasis is the tendency of a system to maintain internal equilibrium. As such, negative feedback is a very important component of homeostasis because negative feedback loops are often self-regulating, and are usually very stable. Negative feedback processes result in reduction to change from equilibrium by inhibiting processes that deviate from equilibrium.

When body temperature rises, negative feedback through thermoregulation helps to cool the body back to equilibrium temperature. This is achieved through peripheral vasodilation, increased breathing rate, and sweating.

In contrast, positive feedback is when a process reinforces and amplifies deviations from equilibrium. The luteinizing hormone (LH) surge during ovulation and uterine contractions during child birth are rare examples of positive feedback in biology.

Negative feedback reverses or shuts off a stimulus. When the body is experiencing dehydration, antidiuretic hormone is secreted, which works to decrease urine production, allowing the body to conserve fluids. When the body's fluids are replaced, negative feedback turns off antidiuretic hormone secretion. Catabolism is the breakdown of complex substances into simpler ones to release energy. Osmosis is the movement of water from an area of high concentration into an area of lower concentration. Vasoconstriction is a reduction in the diameter of a blood vessel. Antidiuretic hormone is also called vasopressin because it constricts blood vessels, which decreases urine output. Reabsorption is the taking back into the blood substances that had previously been filtered out from it. This occurs in the kidneys.