Integrated Human Physiology
Examine how human organ systems maintain precision control through hemodynamics, countercurrent gradients, and feedback circuits. Built for advanced students and clinicians ready to bridge structural anatomy with systemic compensatory physiology.
Like Duolingo, but for Integrated Human Physiology. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
21 levels across 4 sections, about 42 minutes end to end, roughly 8 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Hemodynamics and Cardiopulmonary Coupling; Osmotic, Acid-Base, and Endocrine Regulation; Neuromuscular Control and Circuit Integration; and Microvascular and Barrier Dynamics.
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Key ideas in Integrated Human Physiology
- Carotid sinus and aortic arch baroreceptors buffer mean arterial pressure (approximated as diastolic plus one-third pulse pressure) rather than systolic peak alone to safeguard steady organ perfusion
- Elevated pulse pressure generates cyclic vascular strain and oscillatory wall shear stress that accelerate endothelial remodeling, even while organ perfusion remains governed by MAP
- Wide pulse pressure reflects reduced arterial compliance rather than increased homeostatic mean driving pressure
- Rapid systolic ejection expands the compliant proximal aorta, storing roughly half of the stroke volume as potential energy in distended elastic lamellae
- Aortic valve closure terminates forward ventricular drive, creating the dicrotic notch and shifting flow maintenance entirely to the vessel wall
- Diastolic elastic recoil of the aortic wall gradually releases stored potential energy, sustaining downstream forward flow while the left ventricle is filling
- Bayliss myogenic response uses stretch-activated cation channels in vascular smooth muscle to trigger reactive vasoconstriction when transmural pressure rises
- Local accumulation of metabolic byproducts (adenosine, H+, interstitial K+, hypoxia) directly overrides myogenic tone to increase conductance in hard-working tissue
- Autoregulation has distinct perfusion pressure boundaries (roughly 60–160 mmHg); outside this plateau, microvascular beds become pressure-passive
- Increased afterload steepens the effective arterial elastance (Ea) slope and raises peak systolic left ventricular pressure
- Elevated afterload impedes ejection, leading to an increased end-systolic volume (ESV) and a narrowed loop width (reduced stroke volume)
- End-systolic elastance (Ees) representing intrinsic myocardial contractility remains unchanged by an isolated afterload increase
- Vascular resistance is inversely proportional to the fourth power of internal lumen radius (R ∝ 1/r^4)
- A 20% drop in radius (to 0.8 of baseline) causes resistance to rise by 1/(0.8)^4, which is approximately 2.44 times baseline (a ~144% increase, not 50%)
- Arterioles act as primary systemic resistance vessels because minor changes in smooth muscle tone translate to massive non-linear shifts in downstream pressure and flow
- In Zone 1 (PA > Pa > Pv), alveolar gas pressure exceeds intravascular pressures, creating alveolar dead space unless arterial pressure rises
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Integrated Human Physiology the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What is the primary vascular consequence when pulse pressure rises significantly, even if mean arterial pressure stays normal?
Get it right to open this lesson and 20 more in the app.
Where Integrated Human Physiology takes you
- 1
Hemodynamics and Cardiopulmonary Coupling
- Arterial Hemodynamics and Perfusion Control
- Alveolar Dynamics and Ventilation-Perfusion Mechanics
- 2
Osmotic, Acid-Base, and Endocrine Regulation
- Renal Microarchitecture and Countercurrent Exchange
- Systemic Acid-Base Buffering and Compensation
- 3
Neuromuscular Control and Circuit Integration
- Synaptic Dynamics and Central Integration
- Excitation-Contraction Coupling and Cross-Bridge Mechanics
- 4
Microvascular and Barrier Dynamics
- Endothelial Glycocalyx and Microvascular Transport
4 sections · 7 units · 21 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Integrated Human Physiology is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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