Physiology question?

Question

I have an essay to write on about stress, but do not understand the questions i am suppose to answer.. can someone help clarify these two questions for me...
How is the physiology of the nervous system in the body affected? d.What new findings or research on the topic can be discussed and what are the implications of this on the physiology of the body? the parts that confuse me is the "physiology" of the .....". does it also mean functions.. please help me..thank you.

Answer 1

You are right. When they talk about physiology, they are talking about the functions of the nervous system (changes in how the nervous system works). for example, stress can lead to an increase in sympathetic discharge of the autonomic nervous system. That would be an answer regarding the physiology of the nervous system (how stress affects the nervous system). Same with the "physiology of the body." For example, stress can lead to an increase in blood pressure. That would be a physiologic response on the body (increase in blood pressure) caused by stress. hope this helps.

Answer 2

Physiology simply means "the make up of something", in other words all the parts of something that make up the whole thing.

Answer 3

Answer 2 has it correct. Just to add my 2 points worth, I believe the questions are stated this way to emphasize the physical effects rather than the emotional effects of stress.