Homeostasis Negative Feedback

What is a negative feedback mechanism in homeostasis? A negative feedback system is the most common type of homeostatic regulation used by the body. In this system, the body acts to remove or hinder any deviation from the set ‘ideal’ state. The body does this with three main components. A receptor that acknowledges that something has deviated from the ‘ideal,’ a control center, which establishes the set point in which a variable is maintained, and an effector, which is capable of changing the variable.

An example of a Negative Feedback Mechanism in the human body would be:

A patient loses blood and consequently the blood pressure is decreased. As the body’s normal blood pressure deviates lower than the ‘ideal’ the body’s receptors (primarilylocated in large blood vessels around the heart and neck) pick up this deviation. The receptors then tell the control center, which identifies the deviation, and tells the effector (in this case, primarily the heart – to start contracting stronger and faster, and the kidneys to start retaining salt and therefore fluid). This will then increase bloodpressure.

Another example of a Negative Feedback System in the human body includes the Renin Angiotensin
Aldosterone Pathway (RAA).

For more information about homeostasis, please review my homeostasis page.