Anatomy and Physiology Terms

The bones, muscles, tendons, and other tissues that reach from the base of the skull to the tailbone.

A fist-sized filter tucked under the left ribs, sorting worn-out blood cells from good ones and screening blood for infection.

Tendons are tough fibrous cords that transmit a muscle's pulling force to bone, distinct from ligaments that connect bone to bone.

Sperm production needs a temperature the abdomen cannot provide, which is why these glands hang outside the body in a thin skinned pouch.

The formal name for the male gonad, used in anatomy and reports, where the plural testes and the adjective testicular both appear constantly.

Less a relay station than a gatekeeper, since it decides which signals reach awareness and which are damped down before arriving.

The one place where the routes for breathing and swallowing share a corridor, which is why a swallow has to be so precisely timed.

An organ that does most of its work before adulthood and then fades, having already trained the immune cells a person keeps for life.

A gland located beneath the larynx (voice box) that makes thyroid hormone and calcitonin.

A type of cell in the thyroid.

A gland located beneath the larynx (voice box) that makes thyroid hormone and calcitonin.

TNF related apoptosis inducing ligand, or TRAIL, is a natural immune protein that triggers programmed cell death in certain abnormal or infected cells.

A landmark as much as a structure: tube depth, biopsy sites and staging in the chest are all reckoned from this one ridge.

WHO is the United Nations agency responsible for coordinating international public health efforts, setting health standards, and responding to global disease threats.