| Term 
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        | relatively stable conditions of the internal environment that result from compensating regulatory responses |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | a system in which a particular variable is not changing but energy must be continuously added to maintain this constant |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | a system in which an increase or decrease in a variable being regulated brings about responses that tend to move the variable in the direction opposite to the direction of a change |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | a system in which an initial disturbance sets off a train of events that increase the disturbance even further |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | regulation that anticipates changes in a regulated variable and improves the speed of the body's homeostatic responses and minimizes fluctuations |  | 
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        | a detectable change in the internal or external environment |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | a detector of an environmental change |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | pathway traveled by the signal between the receptor and the integrating center |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | central point which receives signals from many receptors (through afferent pathways) |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | a device whose change in activity constitutes the overall response of the system |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | pathway traveled by the signal between the integrating center and the effector |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | chemical messengers involved in local communication between cells |  | 
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 | Definition 
 
        | chemical messengers that act upon the cell that secreted them |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | ability of a receptor to bind to only one type or a limited number of structurally related types of chemical messengers |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | the degree to which receptors are occupied by a messenger |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | strength with which a chemical binds to its receptor |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | ability of different molecules with similar structures to combine with the same receptor |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a molecule that competes for a receptor with a chemical messenger normally present in the body; binds without triggering a response |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a chemical messenger that binds to a receptor and triggers a cell's response |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a decrease in the total number of target-cell receptors for a given messenger in response to chronic high extracellular concentration of the messenger |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | an increase in the total number of target-cell receptors for a given messenger in response to a chronic low extracellular concentration of the messenger |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | basic unit of nervous tissue; serve as integrators |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | chemical messengers that pass from neuron to targets |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | highly branched outgrowths from cell body which receive information and input |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a single long process that extends from the cell body to its target cells |  | 
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        | Term 
 
        | axon hillock (initial segment) |  | Definition 
 
        | portion of axon closest to the cell body where the axon is joined |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | bulging areas along axons where some neurons release their chemical messengers |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | convey information from tissues and organs into the central nervous system |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | convey information from the central nervous system to tissues and organs |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | specialized junction between two neurons where one neuron alters the activity of another |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | non-neuron cells in the central nervous system; metabolically and physically support neurons |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | regulate composition of extracellular fluid in the central nervous system by removing K+ ions and neurotransmitters around synapses |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | serve as immune cells of the central nervous system |  | 
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        | Term 
 
        | resting membrane potential |  | Definition 
 
        | a potential difference across the plasma membrane of cells and the extracellular fluid |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | occurs when the potential is less negative than the resting level |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | occurs when a depolarized membrane potential returns toward the resting level |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a potential change of variable amplitude and duration that is conducted decrementally; no threshold or refractory period |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a brief all-or-none depolarization of the membrane; has a threshold and refractory period and is conducted without decrement |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a graded potential change produced in the postsynaptic neuron in response to release of a neurotransmitter by a presynaptic terminal; may be depolarizing or hyperpolarizing |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a graded potential produced at the peripheral endings of afferent neurons in response to a stimulus |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | a spontaneously occurring graded potential change that occurs in certain specialized cells |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | weak depolarization in which an action potential does not occur |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | using nodes of Ranvier, action potentials jump from one node to the next as they propagate along a myelinated fiber |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | extracellular space between the axon of a presynaptic cell and the postsynaptic cell |  | 
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        | Term 
 
        | excitatory post synaptic potential (EPSP) |  | Definition 
 
        | a graded potential that spreads decrementally away from the synapse by local current and brings the membrane potential of the post synaptic neuron closer to threshold |  | 
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        | Term 
 
        | inhibitory post synaptic potential (IPSP) |  | Definition 
 
        | uses various mechanisms (such as graded positive potentials) to move the membrane potential away from depolarization |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | multiple stimuli, one after another, that  increase or decrease each other |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | multiple stimuli from multiple sources that increase or decrease each other |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | fibers that release acetylcholine (ACh) |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | releasing epinephrine or norepinephrine |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | molecule that is generally excitatory for muscle control pathways and inhibitory for sensing pathways |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | widely used molecule in body for excitatory responses |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | widely used molecule in body for inhibitory responses |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | groups of neuron cell bodies in the PNS |  | 
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        | Term 
 | Definition 
 
        | groups of neuron cell bodies in the CNS |  | 
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