Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• introduce students to the key physiological functions that are necessary for a living organism,
• develop a interdisciplinary analytical approach to quantitatively describe these functions,
• provide an overview of the modelling techniques that are commonly used to understand and predict physiological processes.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• identify the key physiological processes at play at all relevant scales, from molecules to organisms,
• apply physical, mechanical and chemical principles in the context of physiological processes,
• critically discuss the validity of underlying assumptions and check their validity,
• use mathematical and computational tools to determine and interpret model solutions.

Content

A wide variety of topics are touched upon, from biochemistry and cellular function to neural activity and respiration. In all cases, the emphasis is on finding the simplest mathematical model that describes the observations and allows us to identify the relevant physiological parameters. The models often take the form of a simple functional relationship between two variables, or a set of coupled differential equations. The course tries to show where the equations come from and lead to: what assumptions are needed and what simple and robust conclusions can be drawn.

Physical and chemical principles (4L A Kabla)

• Molecular transport, diffusion, osmotic pressure
• Chemical reactions, law of mass action, kinetics
• Enzyme catalysis, Michaelis-Menten model, cooperativity.
• Gases, partial pressures and solubility

Electrophysiology (5L)

• Biophysical bases of cellular electrogenesis and basic ingredients of the equivalent circuit model.
• Action potential generation in neurons: Hodgkin-Huxley model.
• Phase plane analysis;reduced models,extension to bursting and pacemaking activity
• Signal propagation along dendritic and axonal projections, and across chemical and electrical synapses. .

Blood Physiology (3L A Kabla)

• Blood physiology, composition
• Gas storage in red blood cells
• Blood rheology, Cason equation, flow in capilleries

Physiological transport systems (4L A Kabla)

• Circulatory system, heart, cardiac output, arterial pulse
• Vessel compliance, pulsatile flow profile
• Blood flow in caplliery beds, filtration
• Respiratory system, gas exchange in the lungs, ventilation-perfusion

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

 
Last modified: 24/09/2021 13:59