AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 237, Issue 5 255-R259, Copyright © 1979 by American Physiological Society
Look at physiological integration
E. F. Adolph
Physiological integration results from cooperating processes at work within
an individual. Two chief types of study are a) empirical experiments and
generalizations, and b) predictive relations derived from models. In this
essay the empirical type is illustrated. For example, heart rates and other
circulatory properties are modified in response to messages from specific
muscles, viscera, glands. In those tissues, augmented blood flow increases
the supplies of oxygen and other substances at active local sites. Because
specialized actions are segregated among tissues and organs, each performer
evidently informs cooperating tissues of its state. Messages are
transmitted at various kinds of junctions and chemical receptors. In this
essay the results or actions are emphasized: in what ways do the compounded
processes promote survival and advantage? Messages are sorted as they
travel, certain powers of decision residing at cellular junctions. Because
selected processes are corrdinated, each compound action represents an
accomplishment. Thermoregulation serves as an example of relations by which
several parameters yield a complex result. The multiple correlations and
the intricate timing and switching are recognized.
