Physiology
science regarding function of organisms or living systems
Physiology (; from Ancient Greek φύσις (phúsis) 'nature, origin' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and physical functions in a living system. According to the classes of organisms, the field can be divided into medical physiology, animal physiology, plant physiology, cell physiology, and comparative physiology.
Central to physiological functioning are biophysical and biochemical processes, homeostatic control mechanisms, and communication between cells. Physiological state is the condition of normal function. In contrast, pathological state refers to abnormal conditions, including human diseases.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for exceptional scientific achievements in physiology related to the field of medicine.
Foundations
Because physiology focuses on the functions and mechanisms of living organisms at all levels, from the molecular and cellular level to the level of whole organisms and populations, its foundations span a range of key disciplines:
Anatomy is the study of the structure and organization of living organisms, from the microscopic level of cells and tissues to the macroscopic level of organs and systems. Anatomical knowledge is important in physiology because the structure and function of an organism are often dictated by one another.
Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and substances that occur within living organisms.
“Physiology” enters the record as science regarding function of organisms or living systems. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Physiology, science and regarding can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q521. The Library of Congress control number is sh85101679. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Physiology” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.