Human Body: Description, Anatomy & Physiology

Human Body: A cell is the basic unit of life, whereas a group of cells comes together to form tissues. These tissues assemble together to form an organ and organ systems make an individual organism. Human anatomy is one of the most interesting topics in Biology. The study of human body includes anatomy and physiology. Anatomy involves the study of human body parts whereas, physiology involves the chemical and physical functions of organs.

Students acquire the knowledge of the human body at an early age in order to understand parts of the body and their functions. We all know that our body parts undergo different levels of structural organisation to carry out different functions. You can check CBSE Syllabus for Class 11 Biology for a better understanding of the human body. This article will discuss both human anatomy as well as human physiology in detail.

Human Body: Description

The human body is composed of different cells assembling together to form tissues and eventually an organ system. It comprises the head, neck, abdomen, arms, and legs. The human body is composed of elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, calcium, and phosphorus. Let us check the different components of the human body as mentioned below:

1. Cell: A cell is a basic unit of life. The Human body consists of trillions of cells.
2. Tissues: Group of cells combine together to form tissues. The human body consists of different types of tissues such as epithelial, connective, nerve and muscle tissue.
3. Organs: Tissues assemble to form organs in the human body that perform specific functions. It includes heart, lungs, liver, etc.
4. Organ system: The organs perform different functions in the human body.

The human body comprises different cavities such cranial cavity (protecting the brain and other parts of the nervous system), pleural cavity (protecting lungs), and abdominal cavity (houses spleen, liver, and intestines).

Anatomy Of Human Body

The branch of biology that deals with the study of human structure and body parts is called anatomy. The different components of human anatomy are as follows:

Skeleton

The human body exhibits movements that enable one to perform different activities in their day-to-day life. It includes walking, crawling, running, jumping, etc. This is possible due to the framework, called the skeleton, that helps the human body to conduct activities An adult human body has a total of 206 bones. The skeleton protects the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver, and other vital organs.

The skeletal system comprises bones, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. There are two types of skeletal systems – axial and appendicular skeleton.

Axial Skeleton: It comprises 22 bones such as Skull bones (Cranial and Facial Bones), Auditory Ossicles (Malleus, Incus, Stapes), Hyoid, Vertebral Column (Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar), and Thoracic Cage.

Appendicular Skeleton: It comprises Pectoral Girdle (Collar Bone, Shoulder Blade), Upper Limbs (Humerus, Radius, Ulna, Carpals, Metacarpals, Phalanges), Pelvic Girdle (Llium, Ischium, Pubis), and Lower limbs (Femur, Tibia, Fibula, Patella, Tarsals, Metatarsals, Phalanges).

Muscles

As we all know that muscles are specialized tissues used for the movement of skeletal bones. The muscles are attached to the bones through tendons. How does movement happen in the body? It actually happens due to the contraction and relaxation of muscles. There are three types of muscles namely; skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle.

Skeletal Muscle: These muscles create locomotion in the body. Once the signal from the nervous system is sent to the muscles, there is movement.

Cardiac Muscle: These are involuntary muscles. It helps in pumping blood to the different parts of the body from the signal of the brain.

Smooth Muscle: It is an involuntary muscle and contracts with the response to stimuli.

Physiology Of Human Body

The human body comprises different systems that carry out various functions. These are as follows:

Circulatory System: It helps in the movement of blood, oxygen, and nutrients in the body. The circulatory system is also known as the cardiovascular system. It comprises arteries, veins, blood vessels, etc. There are two types of circulation i.e., systemic and pulmonary circulation.

Digestive System: It helps in breaking down and absorption of food particles followed by removal of unwanted waste. The system includes the mouth, teeth, tongue, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus. Apart from this, the liver and pancreas are involved in the process by producing digestive juices for the digestion of food in the body.

Respiratory System: It allows inhalation of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide from the body. This is also known as the ventilatory system. Lungs are the most important, vital respiratory organs that help the body breathe. Apart from the lungs, it also includes the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, and diaphragm.

Reproductive System: It allows humans to reproduce and is also known as the genital system. There are two types of reproductive organs i.e., male and female reproductive organs. The female reproductive organs comprise the ovaries (produces ovum) and uterine tubes (fallopian tubes). The male reproductive organ consists of testicles (produces sperms).

Endocrine System: It comprises glands that secrete hormones to regulate different functions in the body such as metabolism and growth of the human body.

Immune System: It allows the body to fight against foreign bodies that can be harmful.

Nervous System: It helps in voluntary and involuntary actions in the human body. The system sends signals to different parts of the body and vice versa. There are two types of nervous system i.e., central and peripheral nervous systems. The central nervous system consists of the forebrain (cerebrum, hypothalamus, and thalamus), midbrain (situated between hypothalamus and thalamus), hindbrain (medulla, pons, and cerebellum). The peripheral nervous system consists of the somatic and autonomic nervous systems.

Summary

The human body involves different cells which are assembled together to form tissues and eventually an organ system. It includes the head, neck, abdomen, arms, and legs. The human body is composed of elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, calcium, and phosphorus. The prominent systems of the human body are the circulatory system, endocrine system, digestive system, respiratory system, nervous system, and reproductive system.

FAQs on Human Body

Frequently asked questions related to human body is listed as follows:

Q.1. What are the important organs of the human body?
Ans: The important organs of the human body are the brain, lungs, heart, kidney, liver, stomach, and intestines.

Q.2. What are the important systems of the human body?
Ans: The important systems of the human body are the circulatory system, endocrine system, digestive system, respiratory system, nervous system, and reproductive system.

Q.3. What is the function of the digestive system?
Ans: The digestive system helps the human body in breaking down and absorption of food particles.

Q.4. What is the difference between the anatomy and physiology of the human body?
Ans: The anatomy of the human body helps you to know about the structure of organs whereas physiology studies the function.

Q.5. What is the function of the circulatory system?
Ans: The circulatory system helps in the movement of blood, oxygen, and nutrients in the body.

Now you have detailed information on Human Body. Make sure that you understand all the concepts, topics, and chapters on time. Embibe provides CBSE Class 11 study material which includes descriptions and video lectures that cover the entire CBSE Class 11 syllabus. You can also solve CBSE Class 11 Biology Practice questions on Embibe and take Class 11 Biology mock tests to excel in each and every chapter and score higher.

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