Homeostasis

Not to be confused with hemostasis.

Homeostasis, also spelled homoeostasis (from Greek:
, hmoios, similar), is the property of a sys-
tem in which variables are regulated so that internal con-
ditions remain stable and relatively constant. Examples
of homeostasis include the regulation of temperature and
the balance between acidity and alkalinity (pH). It is a
process that maintains the stability of the human bodys
internal environment in response to changes in external
conditions.
The concept was described by Claude Bernard in 1865
and the word was coined by Walter Bradford Cannon in
1926.
[1]
Although the term was originally used to refer to
processes within living organisms, it is frequently applied
to automatic control systems such as thermostats. Home-
ostasis requires a sensor to detect changes in the condition
to be regulated, an eector mechanism that can vary that
condition; and a negative feedback connection between
the two.
1 Examples from technology
The following are all examples of familiar homeostatic
mechanisms:
A thermostat operates by switching heaters or air-
conditioners on and o in response to the output of
a temperature sensor.
Cruise control adjusts a cars throttle in response to
changes in speed.
An autopilot operates the steering controls of an air-
craft or ship in response to deviation from a pre-set
compass bearing or route.
Process control systems in a chemical plant or oil re-
nery maintain uid levels, pressures, temperature,
chemical composition, etc. by controlling heaters,
pumps and valves.
The centrifugal governor of a steam engine, as de-
signed by James Watt in 1788, reduces the throttle
valve in response to increases in the engine speed, or
opens the valve if the speed falls below the pre-set
rate.
2 Biological
Further information: Human homeostasis
All living organisms depend on maintaining a complex
set of interacting metabolic chemical reactions. From the
simplest unicellular organisms to the most complex plants
and animals, internal processes operate to keep the con-
ditions within tight limits to allow these reactions to pro-
ceed. Homeostatic processes act at the level of the cell,
the tissue, and the organ, as well as for the organism as a
whole.
Principal Homeostatic processes include the following:
Warm-blooded (endothermic) animals (mammals
and birds) maintain a constant body temperature,
whereas ectothermic animals (almost all other an-
imals) exhibit wide body temperature variation.
[2]
An advantage of temperature regulation is that it al-
lows an organism to function eectively in a broad
range of environmental conditions. For example,
ectotherms tend to become sluggish at low tempera-
tures, whereas a co-located endotherm may be fully
active. That thermal stability comes at a price, since
an automatic regulation system requires additional
energy.
[2]
If the temperature rises, the body loses
heat by sweating or panting, via the latent heat of
evaporation. If it falls, this is counteracted by in-
creased metabolic action, by shivering, andin fur-
or feather-coated creaturesby thickening the coat.
Thermal image of a cold-blooded tarantula (ectothermic) on a
warm-blooded human hand (endothermic).
Regulation of the pH of the blood at 7.365 (a mea-
sure of alkalinity and acidity).
1
2 2 BIOLOGICAL
All animals also regulate their blood glucose con-
centration. Mammals regulate their blood glucose
with insulin and glucagon. The human body main-
tains glucose levels constant most of the day, even
after a 24-hour fast. Even during long periods
of fasting, glucose levels are reduced only very
slightly.
[3]
Insulin, secreted by the beta cells of the
pancreas, eectively transports glucose to the bodys
cells by instructing those cells to keep more of the
glucose for their own use (see Dynamic equilib-
rium). If the glucose inside the cells is high, the cells
will convert it to the insoluble glycogen to prevent
the soluble glucose from interfering with cellular
metabolism. Ultimately this lowers blood glucose
levels, and insulin helps to prevent hyperglycemia.
When insulin is decient or cells become resistant
to it, diabetes occurs. Glucagon, secreted by the al-
pha cells of the pancreas, encourages cells to break
down stored glycogen or convert non-carbohydrate
carbon sources to glucose via gluconeogenesis, thus
preventing hypoglycemia.
The kidneys are used to remove excess water and
ions from the blood. These are then expelled as
urine. The kidneys perform a vital role in homeo-
static regulation in mammals, removing excess wa-
ter, salt, and urea from the blood.
If the water content of the blood and lymph uid
falls, it is restored in the rst instance by extracting
water from the cells. The throat and mouth become
dry, so that the symptoms of thirst motivate the an-
imal to drink.
If the oxygen content of the blood falls, or the
carbon-dioxide concentration increases, blood ow
is increased by more vigorous heart action and the
speed and depth of breathing increases.
Sleep timing depends upon a balance between
homeostatic sleep propensity, the need for sleep as a
function of the amount of time elapsed since the last
adequate sleep episode, and circadian rhythms that
determine the ideal timing of a correctly structured
and restorative sleep episode.
[4]
Personality traits are often conceptualized as a per-
son specic setpoint level around which mood states
uctuate in time.
[5]
2.1 Control mechanisms
All homeostatic control mechanisms have at least three
interdependent components for the variable being regu-
lated: The receptor is the sensing component that moni-
tors and responds to changes in the environment. When
the receptor senses a stimulus, it sends information to
a control center, the component that sets the range at
which a variable is maintained. The control center deter-
mines an appropriate response to the stimulus. The con-
trol center then sends signals to an eector, which can
be muscles, organs, or other structures that receive sig-
nals from the control center. After receiving the signal,
a change occurs to correct the deviation by depressing it
with negative feedback.
[6]
2.1.1 Negative feedback
Negative feedback mechanisms consist of reducing the
output or activity of any organ or system back to its nor-
mal range of functioning. A good example of this is
regulating blood pressure. Blood vessels can sense resis-
tance of blood ow against the walls when blood pres-
sure increases. The blood vessels act as the receptors
and they relay this message to the brain. The brain then
sends a message to the heart and blood vessels, both
of which are the eectors. The heart rate would de-
crease as the blood vessels increase in diameter (known
as vasodilation). This change would cause the blood pres-
sure to fall back to its normal range. The opposite would
happen when blood pressure decreases, and would cause
vasoconstriction.
Another important example is seen when the body is de-
prived of food. The body would then reset the metabolic
set point to a lower than normal value. This would allow
the body to continue to function, at a slower rate, even
though the body is starving. Therefore, people depriving
themselves of food while trying to lose weight would nd
it easy to shed weight initially and much harder to lose
more after. This is due to the bodys readjusting itself to
a lower metabolic set-point to allow the body to survive
with its low supply of energy. Exercise can change this
eect by increasing the metabolic demand.
Another good example of negative feedback mechanism
is temperature control. The hypothalamus, which moni-
tors the body temperature, is capable of determining even
the slightest variation of normal body temperature (36.5
degrees Celsius). Response to such variation could be
stimulation of glands that produce sweat to reduce the
temperature or signaling various muscles to shiver to in-
crease body temperature.
Both feedbacks are equally important for the healthy
functioning of ones body. Complications can arise if any
of the two feedbacks are aected or altered in any way.
2.2 Homeostatic imbalance
Many diseases involve a disturbance of homeostasis.
As the organism ages, the eciency in its control systems
becomes reduced. The ineciencies gradually result in
an unstable internal environment that increases the risk
of illness, and leads to the physical changes associated
with aging.
[6]
3
Certain homeostatic imbalances, such as high core tem-
perature, a high concentration of salt in the blood, or low
concentration of oxygen, can generate homeostatic emo-
tions (such as warmth, thirst, or breathlessness), which
motivate behavior aimed at restoring homeostasis (such
as removing a sweater, drinking or slowing down).
[7]
3 Ecological
The concept of homeostasis is central to the topic of
Ecological Stoichiometry. There, it refers to the rela-
tionship between the chemical composition of an organ-
ism and the chemical composition of the nutrients it con-
sumes. Stoichiometric homeostasis helps explain nutrient
recycling and population dynamics.
Throughout history, ecological succession was seen as
having a stable end-stage called the climax (see Frederic
Clements), sometimes referred to as the 'potential biodi-
versity' of a site, shaped primarily by the local climate.
This idea has been largely abandoned by modern ecol-
ogists in favor of nonequilibrium ideas of how ecosys-
tems function, as most natural ecosystems experience
disturbance at a rate that makes a climax community
unattainable.
Only on small, isolated habitats known as ecological is-
lands can the phenomenon be observed. One such case
study is the island of Krakatoa after its major eruption
in 1883: the established stable homeostasis of the previ-
ous forest climax ecosystem was destroyed, and all life
was eliminated from the island. In the years after the
eruption, Krakatoa went through a sequence of ecolog-
ical changes in which successive groups of new plant
or animal species followed one another, leading to in-
creasing biodiversity and eventually culminating in a re-
established climax community. This ecological succes-
sion on Krakatoa occurred in a number of stages; a sere
is dened as a stage in a sequence of events by which
succession occurs. The complete chain of seres lead-
ing to a climax is called a prisere. In the case of Kraka-
toa, the island reached its climax community, with eight
hundred dierent recorded species, in 1983, one hundred
years after the eruption that cleared all life o the island.
Evidence conrms that this number has been homeo-
static for some time, with the introduction of new species
rapidly leading to elimination of old ones. The evidence
of Krakatoa, and other disturbed island ecosystems, has
conrmed many principles of Island Biogeography, mim-
icking general principles of ecological succession albeit in
a virtually closed system comprised almost exclusively of
endemic species.
4 Biosphere
In the Gaia hypothesis, James Lovelock stated that the
entire mass of living matter on Earth (or any planet with
life) functions as a vast homeostatic superorganism that
actively modies its planetary environment to produce
the environmental conditions necessary for its own sur-
vival. In this view, the entire planet maintains homeosta-
sis. Whether this sort of system is present on Earth is still
open to debate. However, some relatively simple homeo-
static mechanisms are generally accepted. For example,
it is sometimes claimed that when atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels rise, certain plants are able to grow better
and thus act to remove more carbon dioxide from the at-
mosphere. However, warming has exacerbated droughts,
making water the actual limiting factor on land. When
sunlight is plentiful and atmospheric temperature climbs,
it has been claimed that the phytoplankton of the ocean
surface waters may thrive and produce more dimethyl sul-
de, DMS. The DMS molecules act as cloud condensa-
tion nuclei, which produce more clouds, and thus increase
the atmospheric albedo, and this feeds back to lower the
temperature of the atmosphere. However, rising sea tem-
perature has stratied the oceans, separating warm, sun-
lit waters from cool, nutrient-rich waters. Thus, nutrients
have become the limiting factor, and plankton levels have
actually fallen over the past 50 years, not risen. As sci-
entists discover more about Earth, vast numbers of pos-
itive and negative feedback loops are being discovered,
that, together, maintain a metastable condition, some-
times within very broad range of environmental condi-
tions.
Environmental pressure, such as competition or change in
temperature, can lead to adaptation/extinction of species
over time.
5 Reactive
Example of use: Reactive homeostasis is an immediate
homeostasic response to a challenge such as predation.
However, any homeostasis is impossible without
reactionbecause homeostasis is and must be a
feedback phenomenon.
The phrase reactive homeostasis is simply short for re-
active compensation reestablishing homeostasis, that is
to say, reestablishing a point of homeostasis"; it should
not be confused with a separate kind of homeostasis or a
distinct phenomenon from homeostasis. It is simply the
compensation (or compensatory) phase of homeostasis.
6 Other elds
The termhas come to be used in other elds, for example:
4 9 REFERENCES
6.1 Risk
Main article: Risk homeostasis
An actuary may refer to risk homeostasis, where (for ex-
ample) people that have anti-lock brakes have no better
safety record than those without anti-lock brakes, because
the former unconsciously compensate for the safer vehi-
cle via less-safe driving habits. Previous to the innova-
tion of anti-lock brakes, certain maneuvers involved mi-
nor skids, evoking fear and avoidance: Now the anti-lock
system moves the boundary for such feedback, and be-
havior patterns expand into the no-longer punitive area.
It has also been suggested that ecological crises are an
instance of risk homeostasis in which a particular behav-
ior continues until proven dangerous or dramatic conse-
quences actually occur.
6.2 Stress
Sociologists and psychologists may refer to stress home-
ostasis, the tendency of a population or an individual to
stay at a certain level of stress, often generating articial
stresses if the natural level of stress is not enough.
Jean-Franois Lyotard, a postmodern theorist, has ap-
plied this termto societal 'power centers that he describes
as being 'governed by a principle of homeostasis,' for ex-
ample, the scientic hierarchy, which will sometimes ig-
nore a radical new discovery for years because it desta-
bilises previously accepted norms. (See The Postmodern
Condition: A Report on Knowledge by Jean-Franois Ly-
otard)
7 Psychological
Author George Leonard discusses in his book Mastery
how homeostasis aects our behavior and who we are.
He states that homeostasis will prevent our body from
making drastic changes and maintain stability in our lives
even if it is detrimental to us.
[8]
Examples include when
an obese person starts exercising, homeostasis in the body
resists the activity to maintain stability.
[9]
Another exam-
ple Leonard uses is an unstable family where the father
has been a raging alcoholic and suddenly stops and the son
starts up a drug habit to maintain stability in the family.
Homeostasis is the main factor that stops people changing
their habits because our bodies view change as dangerous
unless it is very slow. Leonard discusses this dilemma, as
the media today encourages only fast change and quick
results. The opening of his book describes his despair
with the current state of the world and how it is at war
with homeostasis. The trouble is that we have few, if
any, maps to guide us on the journey or even to show us
how to nd the path. The modern world, in fact, can be
viewed as a prodigious conspiracy against mastery. We're
continually bombarded with the promises of immediate
gratication, instant success, and fast, temporary relief,
all of which lead in exactly the wrong direction.
8 See also
Acclimatization
Allostasis
Apoptosis
Biological rhythm
Cybernetics
Enantiostasis
Homeorhesis
Le Chateliers principle
Lenzs law
Milieu interieur
Osmosis
Proteostasis
Senescence
Steady state
9 References
[1] Cannon, W. B. (1926). Physiological regulation of nor-
mal states: some tentative postulates concerning biolog-
ical homeostatics. In A. Pettit(ed.). A Charles Richet :
ses amis, ses collgues, ses lves (in French). Paris: Les
ditions Mdicales. p. 91.
[2] Cannon, W.B. (1932). The Wisdom of the Body. New
York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 177201.
[3] Bhagavan, N. V. (2002). Medical biochemistry (4th ed.).
Academic Press. p. 499. ISBN 978-0-12-095440-7.
[4] Wyatt, James K.; Ritz-De Cecco, Angela; Czeisler,
Charles A.; Dijk, Derk-Jan (1 October 1999). Circadian
temperature and melatonin rhythms, sleep, and neu-
robehavioral function in humans living on a 20-h day.
American Journal of Physiology 277 (4): R1152R1163.
Fulltext. PMID 10516257. Retrieved 2007-11-25. "...
signicant homeostatic and circadian modulation of sleep
structure, with the highest sleep eciency occurring in
sleep episodes bracketing the melatonin maximum and
core body temperature minimum
[5] Jeronimus, B. F., Riese, H., Sanderman, R., Ormel, J.
(2014). Mutual Reinforcement Between Neuroticism
and Life Experiences: A Five-Wave, 16-Year Study to
Test Reciprocal Causation. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology 107 (4): 75164.
5
[6] Marieb, Elaine N., Hoehn, Katja N. (2009). Essen-
tials of Human Anatomy & Physiology (9th ed. ed.).
San Francisco, CA: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings. ISBN
0321513428.
[7] Mayer, Emeran A. (2011-08). Gut feelings: the emerg-
ing biology of gut-brain communication. Nature Reviews
Neuroscience 12 (8): 453466. doi:10.1038/nrn3071.
Check date values in: |date= (help)
[8] George Leonards Mastery / Getting Stronger
[9] Review of George Leonards Mastery: Why resolutions
fail? Role of the homeostasis | Procrastination Help
10 Further reading
Banci, Lucia (Ed.), ed. (2013). Chapter 3
Sodium/Potassium homeostasis, Chapter 5 Calcium
homeostasis, Chapter 6 Manganese homeostasis.
Metallomics and the Cell. Metal Ions in Life Sci-
ences 12. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-
5561-1_3. ISBN 978-94-007-5560-4. electronic-
book ISBN 978-94-007-5561-1 ISSN 1559-0836
electronic-ISSN 1868-0402
11 External links
Homeostasis
Peristasis
6 12 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
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