Physiology 31 Study Recommendations for Lecture Exam #3
Exam #3 will consist of 100 multiple choice questions drawn from the lecture materials from
Chapters 12, 14-16 and 24. Refer to the lecture handouts and related textbook information that
reinforce the material covered in lecture as you prepare for the exam. It would also be helpful to
review the portions of the Interactive Physiology CD that pertain to this material.
Chapter 12 – Muscle Physiology
- List the 3 types of muscle tissues and their functions.
- What is the purpose of the 3 layers of connective tissue that encapsulate skeletal muscle tissue?
- Describe the basic organization of skeletal muscle tissue, skeletal muscle cells, and the
sarcomere contractile units within them.
- Describe the 3 types of myofilaments that compose the myofibrils in skeletal muscle fibers.
Which are thin filaments and which are thick filaments?
- Explain the 4 phases of skeletal muscle contraction and relaxation, including what happens
during excitation, excitation-contraction coupling, contraction, and relaxation.
- What role does calcium play in neurotransmitter release and in muscle contraction?
- What are the two main ways that ATP is produced in muscle cells? What are the advantages
and disadvantages of each method?
- What two enzymes facilitate the production of ATP for immediate energy during intense
exercise? What are their substrates and products?
- After the immediate energy is exhausted, by what method is ATP energy generated for the next
minute or so of intense exercise?
- By what method is ATP generated for long term energy during muscle contration?
- Aside from glycogen and its break-down product glucose, what other organic molecules can be
used in cellular respiration?
- What is oxygen debt, and what is the extra oxygen consumed after strenuous exercise used for?
- What is muscle fatigue, and what are some of the possible causes?
- Describe the 3 types of skeletal muscle fibers and their characteristics.
- What is a motor unit? How do the motor units in fingers and eyes differ from those of larger,
more powerful muscles?
- How is the length of the sarcomeres related to the strength of muscle contraction?
- What are the other two methods whereby the contraction strength of muscle twitches can be
increased? What is meant by treppe, temporal summation, incomplete and complete tetanus?
How is each achieved in muscle contraction?
- What is meant by threshold, a muscle twitch, the latent period, and refractory period in terms of
muscle contraction?
- Compare isometric and isotonic muscle contraction.
- Explain why Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy is so debilitating.
- Compare smooth muscle cell structure to that of skeletal muscle. In what ways do they differ?
- Compare and contrast multiunit and single-unit smooth muscle tissue. How do their functions
differ, and where is each located?
- What factors influence smooth muscle contraction and relaxation?
- Compare and contrast the contraction mechanisms of smooth and skeletal muscle. How do
they differ? How are they similar?
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Chapter 16 – Blood
- What are the major functions of blood?
- What are the major components of blood?
- What is the normal pH range of blood?
- What is the normal percent of salinity and osmolarity in blood? What happens if the osmolarity
is too high or too low?
- What makes blood more viscous than water? Which protein is most responsible? What
happens when people have severe protein deficiencies in their diet?
- What are the main components of blood plasma? What is the difference between plasma and
serum?
- What is the main protein found in RBCs? What is the composition and function of the protein?
- How long do RBCs exist? Where are they broken down, and how are their components
recycled?
- Which WBCs are granulocytes, and which are agranulocytes? What are the relative
percentages of the 5 types of WBCs, and their functions?
- From what types of cells are platelets derived? What are platelets responsible for?
- What is hematopoiesis? Where does it take place? What hematopoeitic growth factors are
responsible for the differentiation of the different types of blood cells?
- What determines whether blood is type A, B, AB, O, Rh+ or Rh-?
- Why must people receive blood transfusions that are similar to their own blood type? Which
blood types are compatible and which are incompatible?
- What can happen if an Rh- mother has an Rh+ baby?
- What is anemia, and what are its causes? Polycythemia? Sickle cell disease? Leukemia?
Thrombocytopenia?
- What is a hematocrit? What is considered a normal percentage? What is indicated by lower or
higher percentages?
- In a differential WBC count, what are normal percentages for each type of WBC, and what
conditions may be indicated by higher than normal percentages of each?
- What is included in a CBC?
- How are platelets involved in hemostasis (stopping bleeding)?
- What are clotting factors, and how are the involved in blood coagulation? Describe the
intrinsic and extrinsic blood clotting mechanisms and the clotting factors involved.
- What prevents inappropriate blood coagulation?
- Describe the coagulation disorders mentioned in class.
Chapter 14 – Cardiovascular Physiology
- What materials are transported by the cardiovascular system?
- Describe the general route of blood flow through the heart and body.
- What is the right side of the heart responsible for? What does the left side of the heart do?
- What are the coronary blood vessels responsible for? What can happen if the coronary arteries
become blocked by cholesterol plaque or blood clot?
- What is the heart wall composed of? What can happen if the outer or inner membranes become
infected?
- What are intercalated discs in cardiac muscle tissue? How do they aid cardiac muscle
contraction?
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- What two types of cardiac cells are found in the myocardium? Describe how each is
depolarized and repolarized. How do they differ? How are they similar?
- Describe the roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in modulating
cardiac contractile force and heart rate.
- Describe the sequence of the conduction system through the heart. What nodal tissues are
involved? Which nodal tissue sets the normal heart rate? How is heart rate affected if the
pacemaker is damaged?
- What is an electrocardiogram? What is represented by the P, Q, R, S, and T waves, as well as
the intervals between the waves? What is indicated by abnormalities in the waves and intervals?
- What heart rate would indicate tachycardia? Bradycardia?
- What are the different types of arrhythmias? What is a heart block, and what causes it?
- What causes the “lub-dup” heart sounds? Where are the valvular ausculatory areas?
- What is a heart murmur? Describe the 4 types of heart murmurs. Which one is the most
common?
- Explain the cardiac cycle, including the events of ventricular filling, ventricular systole, and
isovolumetric relaxation (ventricular diastole). What are the EDV and ESV?
- What is meant by congestive heart failure?
- What two factors determine cardiac output? Be able to calculate cardiac output when given
these two factors, or to calculate either factor when given a cardiac output and one factor.
- What chronotropic agents can raise and lower heart rate? What region of the brain regulates
heart rate? What types of receptors are involved? How do electrolytes, such as Ca2+ and K+
affect heart rate?
- Describe the three factors that affect heart stroke volume. What is Starling’s law of the heart?
What are the positive and negative ionotropic factors, and how do they affect heart contractility
and stroke volume?
- How does exercise affect heart rate and stroke volume?
Chapter 15 – Blood Flow & Blood Pressure
- What three layers compose the walls of arteries and veins? How do arteries and veins differ?
- What is angiogenesis? Why does it occur? What factors promote or inhibit angiogenesis?
- Under what conditions and in what way is blood flow altered through capillary beds?
- How and why does blood pressure differ in arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins?
- If blood pressure is low in veins and venules, how is blood returned to the heart from the
extremities?
- What is the difference between blood flow (rate) and perfusion? What factors influence blood
flow and pressure? (Hint: recall Poiseuille’s equation.) Which factor has the greatest effect on
blood flow?
- What is considered to be a normal blood pressure measurement? What produces the systolic
and diastolic pressures?
- How do pulse rate and pulse pressure differ? How is pulse pressure calculated?
- What is mean arterial pressure (MAP)? How is it calculated? Why isn’t it the average of the
systolic and diastolic pressures? What is the function of MAP?
- What is hypertension, and why is it so dangerous?
- What factors regulate blood pressure and blood flow?
- What are baroreceptor and chemoreceptors, and how are they involved in blood pressure
regulation?
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- What region of the brain controls heart rate and blood pressure?
- What hormones are involved in blood pressure regulation? How does each affect blood
pressure? How can the same hormone constrict some blood vessels and dilate others?
- List the ways in which different materials are moved across capillary walls to surrounding
tissues and from tissues to capillaries.
- What is bulk flow?
- What is the difference between hydrostatic pressure and osmotic pressure in capillaries? Which
causes fluid to move out of capillaries, and which causes fluid to move into capillaries from
surrounding interstitial fluid?
- At which end (arteriole or venule) of a capillary bed is filtration predominant, and at which end
is absorption predominant? In what types of tissues is filtration more prevalent, and which
tissues experience more absorption?
- What happens to the excess fluid filtered out of capillaries that is not reabsorbed?
- What is edema, and what factors contribute to edema? Why is severe edema dangerous?
- How is venous return to the heart affected by exercise and inactivity?
- What is circulatory shock and what factors contribute to it? What causes septic and
anaphylactic shock?
- What are the main contributing factors for arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis? How do they
affect blood vessels? Why are they dangerous?