All articles tagged with #homeostasis
The article explores the biological mechanisms of thirst and salt regulation in humans and animals, highlighting how different species, like hibernating ground squirrels, suppress their thirst signals during certain conditions, and how taste and brain reward pathways influence salt intake. It emphasizes that thirst and salt needs vary widely across species and situations, with complex neural circuits involved in maintaining water and salt balance.
Macrophages are a diverse group of immune cells that play crucial roles in tissue homeostasis, development, and immunity. Recent studies have shown that tissue-resident macrophages originate from embryonic precursors and self-maintain locally throughout adult life with minimal contribution from circulating monocytes. Macrophages also have important functions in tissue growth and repair, as well as in regulating salt-dependent volume and blood pressure. They sense their environment through various receptors and respond to stimuli such as hypoxia and mechanical force.
Researchers from the University of Vienna have found that an eight-hour period of social isolation can cause a decrease in energy levels equivalent to going without food for the same amount of time. This effect, suggesting that low energy may be a human response to a lack of social contact, was seen both in laboratory settings and during the COVID-19 lockdowns, with more sociable individuals experiencing lower energy levels during isolation. The study proposes that lowered energy may be a part of our homeostatic response to a lack of social contact and a potential precursor of some more detrimental effects of long-term social isolation.
Neuroscientists Antonio Damasio and Hanna Damasio propose that feelings, specifically homeostatic feelings, are the source of consciousness. These feelings are the mental translation of processes occurring in the body as it strives to balance its many systems, achieve homeostasis, and keep the individual alive. Consciousness fuses the body and mind processes and gives our selves a home inside that partnership. The hard problem of consciousness concerns the difficulty of having a physical entity, such as the brain, produce a non-physical process called the mind. The Damasios' account of consciousness addresses the hard problem and proposes a candidate mechanism to account for conscious experiences.
Researchers from Okayama University have discovered that chloride ions play a role in taste perception by binding to sweet taste receptors, potentially producing a light sweet taste sensation. The study found that low concentrations of chloride ions could activate neurons involved in signaling sweet taste in mice models. The findings suggest that chloride ions influence salt-taste sensation and may help maintain homeostasis and balance salt levels in the body.
Researchers from Okayama University have discovered that chloride ions play a role in taste perception by binding to sweet taste receptors, potentially producing a light sweet taste sensation. The study found that low concentrations of chloride ions could activate neurons involved in signaling sweet taste in mice models. The findings suggest that chloride ions influence salt-taste sensation and may help maintain homeostasis and balance salt levels in the body.