Why CogBooks Courseware for Anatomy & Physiology?

Explore the characteristics of life and how the body works to maintain stable conditions. Get introduced to a set of standard terms for body structures and for planes and positions in the body. Look at examples of medical imaging used to see inside the living body.

1.1 Overview of Anatomy and Physiology
1.2 Functions of Human Life
1.3 Anatomical Terminology
1.4 Medical Imaging

The structure of atoms, the basic units of matter, determines the characteristics of chemical elements. Life cannot exist without many of these elements contribute to chemical reactions, to the transformation of energy, and to electrical activity and muscle contraction.

2.1 The Substance of the Universe
2.2 Chemical Reactions
2.3 Carbon, Organic and Inorganic Compounds

The body contains at least 200 distinct cell types. The cells represent the basic unit of life. These cells contain essentially the same internal structures yet they vary enormously in shape and function. These tiny fluid-filled sacs house components responsible for the thousands of biochemical reactions necessary for an organism to grow and survive. Learn about the major components and functions of a prototypical, generalized cell and discover some of the different types of cells in the human body.

3.1 The Cell Membrane
3.2 The Nucleus and DNA Replication
3.3 Cell Cycle and Growth

The different types of cells are not randomly distributed throughout the body; rather they occur in organized layers, a level of organization referred to as tissue. The variety in shape reflects the many different roles that cells fulfill in your body. The human body starts as a single cell at fertilization. As this fertilized egg divides, it gives rise to trillions of cells, each built from the same blueprint, but organizing into tissues and becoming irreversibly committed to a developmental pathway.

4.1 Tissues
4.2 Connective and Muscle Tissue
4.3 Nervous Tissue, Tissue Injury and Ageing

Explore the integumentary system – the skin and its accessory structures. The skin protects your inner organs and it is in need of daily care and protection to maintain its health. Get introduced to the integumentary system and some of the diseases, disorders, and injuries that can affect it.

5.1 The Nature of Skin
5.2 The Hair, Nails and Glands
5.3 Functions of The Integumentary System
5.4 Diseases, Disorders and Injuries of The Skin

Your skeleton is a structure of living tissue that grows, repairs, and renews itself. The bones within it are dynamic and complex organs that serve a number of important functions. While the soft tissue of a once living organism will decay and fall away over time, bone tissue will undergo a process of mineralization, effectively turning the bone to stone.

6.1 The Skeletal System
6.2 The Bones of The Body
6.3 The Anatomy of Bone
6.4 Ossification of The Bone
6.5 The Effect of Aging on Bones

The skeletal system forms the rigid internal framework of the body. It consists of the bones, cartilages, and ligaments. Bones support the weight of the body, allow for body movements, and protect internal organs. Each bone of the body serves a particular function, and therefore bones vary in size, shape, and strength based on these functions. The adult axial skeleton consists of 80 bones that form the head and body trunk.

7.1 Divisions of The Skeletal System
7.2 The Anatomy of The Skull
7.3 Anatomy of The Vertebral Column
7.4 The Anatomy of The Thoracic Cage
7.5 The Embryonic Development of The Axial Skeleton

Your skeleton provides the internal supporting structure of the body. Attached to this are the limbs, whose 126 bones constitute the appendicular skeleton. Because of our upright stance, different functional demands are placed upon the upper and lower limbs. The bones of the lower limbs are adapted for weight-bearing support and stability. The upper limbs are highly mobile and can be utilized for a wide variety of activities.

8.1 The Bones and Composition of The Pectoral Girdle
8.2 Disorders of The Appendicular System
8.3 The Structure and Function of The Pelvic Girdle
8.4 The Bones of the Lower Limb
8.5 Ossification of The Appendicular Bones

Joints are the location where bones come together. Many joints allow for movement between the bones. At these joints, the articulating surfaces of the adjacent bones can move smoothly against each other. However, the bones of other joints may be joined to each other by connective tissue or cartilage. These joints are designed for stability and provide for little or no movement. Understanding the relationship between joint structure and function will help to explain why particular types of joints are found in certain areas of the body.

9.1 The Nature of Joints
9.2 Fibrous, Cartilaginous, Synovial Joints
9.3 Types of Body Movement
9.4 Articulations of the Vertebral Column
9.5 Knees, Ankles, and Development of Joints

Examine the structure and function of three types of muscles: the skeletal muscles, the cardiac muscle, and the smooth muscle. Skeletal muscles are visible just under the skin, particularly of the limbs. Cardiac muscle, found in the heart, is pumping blood through the circulatory system. Smooth muscle is concerned with various involuntary movements, such as having one’s hair stand on end when cold or frightened, or moving food through the digestive system.

10.1 Skeletal Muscle
10.2 Muscle Contraction and Relaxation
10.3 Motor Units and Muscle Fiber
10.4 Muscle Performance and Regeneration

Physical activities require movement of particular skeletal muscles. In some cases, the muscle is named by its shape, and in other cases, it is named by its location or attachments to the skeleton. The actions of the skeletal muscles are covered in a regional manner, from the head down to the toes.

11.1 Skeletal Muscles and Fascicle Arrangement
11.2 Axial Muscles of the Head, Neck and Back
11.3 Axial Muscles of The Abdominal Wall and Thorax
11.4 Muscles of The Pectoral Girdle and Upper Limbs

The nervous system is a very complex organ system. Start with a big picture and then explore nervous (neural) tissue, both its structure and its function.

12.1 Overview of The Nervous System
12.2 Neurons and Neurotransmission

The nervous system is responsible for controlling much of the body, both through somatic (voluntary) and autonomic (involuntary) functions. The structures of the nervous system must be described in detail to understand how many of these functions are possible.

13.1 The Embryonic Nervous System
13.2 The Central Nervous System
13.3 Circulation and The Central Nervous System
13.4 The Peripheral Nervous System

The somatic nervous system is traditionally considered a division within the peripheral nervous system. Somatic refers to a functional division, whereas peripheral refers to an anatomic division.

The somatic nervous system is responsible for our conscious perception of the environment and for our voluntary responses to that perception by means of skeletal muscles. Peripheral sensory neurons receive input from environmental stimuli, but the neurons that produce motor responses originate in the central nervous system.

14.1 The Different Senses
14.2 The Spinal Cord and Central Processing
14.3 Responses and Reflexes

The autonomic nervous system is about responding to threats – the fight-or-flight response. Also, there are the responses referred to as “rest and digest.” The heart rate will slow. Breathing will return to normal. The digestive system has a big job to do. Much of the function of the autonomic system is based on the connections within an autonomic, or visceral, reflex.

15.1 The Divisions of The Autonomic Nervous System
15.2 The Nature of Reflexes
15.3 The Central Control of The Nervous System
15.4 Things That Impact on The Autonomic Nervous System