Postgraduate Studies - Department of Physiology and Medical Physics

General Physiology for MSc Candidates (PHYGen-M1) - 1st Semester (3 credits) 45 hours theory (3 hours/week)

• Cell: (1 hour): Plasma membrane, cytoplasm and its organelles. Nucleus and gene expression. DNA synthesis and cell division.
• Body fluids: (1 hour) Fluid compartment, Water and electrolyte balance, Edema.
• Muscle, nerve and autonomic nervous system: (12 hours) Generation of membrane potential of nerve cell, Excitation and conduction, Nerve action potential, Electrogenesis of the action potential, Orthodromic and antidromic conduction - properties of mixed nerves, Skeletal muscles: The contractile response - muscle twitch, Properties of skeletal muscles in the intact organism - motor units, Energy source and metabolism, Strength-duration curve - cardiac muscle, The smooth muscles, The neuromuscular junction, Autonomic nervous system: anatomical consideration - sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, Types of autonomic innervation and reflex arc, Higher autonomic centers and neurotransmitters in autonomic nervous systems, Physiology of micturition.
• Blood: (6 hours) Blood volume and plasma, Red blood cells, Hemoglobin structure and types, Anemia, Blood groups (ABO system) and transfusion reaction, Homeostasis and platelets, External and internal pathways of coagulation, Tests of homeostasis, hemophilia, Immunity and tissue typing, Tolerance, autoimmune diseases, and graft rejection.
• Respiratory system: (9 hours) Physiological functions of the lungs, Process of respiration: mechanics of breathing, Lung volumes and capacities, Compliance of the lung, role of surfactant, Pulmonary and alveolar ventilation, Transport of O2 by the blood, Transport of CO2 by the blood, Role of the respiratory system in acid-base regulation, Regulation of breathing: voluntary and involuntary control, Regulation of breathing: ventilatory responses to CO2 rise and O2 lack.