SerenaVargas

IntegumentarySystemLabReport
Skin
Skindoesanextremeamountofthingsforthebody,itservespurposesthatyouwouldhavenevereven
thoughtitserved.Skinisknowntobethelargestorganthatisinourbodybecauseofitsweight.Skinisa
tough,flexiblecoveringthatcoversourentirebody.Skiniscomposedofmultipletypesoftissues.Since
ourskiniselastic,itcreatesareflectionimageofanobjectwhichallowsustodistinguishthesize,shape
andtexture.Therearefourclassesofsensoryreceptorsthatalertthebrainabouttheform,weight,motion,
vibration,andhandposturethatinterpreteachobject.Therearemultipletypesoftissuesthatskinis
composedof.Skinisoneofthemoreadaptableorgansthatisinthebodyanditisessentialinmaintaining
homeostasis.Sinceskinisaprotectioncoverforthebody,itblocksdangeroussubstancesfromentering
thebody.Anotherpurposethatskinserves,isthatitdelaysthelossofwaterbydeepertissuesdiffusing
andithelpsregulatebodytemperature.Skincontainssensoryreceptorsthatcontainepidermaldendritic
cells.Thesecellscontributetotheinitiatingoftheimmuneresponseandexcretingofthesmallamounts
ofwaste.

Theskin,whichisalsoknownasthecutaneousmembrane,consistsoftwolayers.Thesetwolayers
includetheepithelialtissuethatoverliestheconnectivetissue.Theepidermisisknownastheouterlayer.
Theepidermisismadeofstratifiedsquamousepithelium.Thedermis,alsoknownastheinnerlayer,is
thickerthantheepidermis.Theepidermisiscomposedofconnectivetissuethatcontainscollagen,elastic
fibers,smoothmuscletissue,nervoustissue,andblood.Belowthedermis,therearemassesofareolarand
adiposetissuethatfastentheskintotheorgansunderthem.Thesetissuesthatarebelowtheskinarenot
partoftheskin.Thesetissuesdoformthesubcutaneouslayerthough,whichisalsoknownasthe
hypodermis.Theelasticfibersrunparalleltotheskinssurface,whichextendsouttoeverydirection.In
result,nopointedboundarydividesthedermisandthesubcutaneouslayer.Theadiposetissuelayer
insulates,whichhelpspreservebodyheat,aswellasblocktheentrancefromtheoutside.

SkinTemperature
Theskinplaysavitalroleinthehomeostaticmechanismthatregulatesbodytemperature.Whenthereisa
riseinbodytemperature,aboveacertainpoint,thenervoussystemstimulatesskinstructures,andorgans
toreleaseheat.Homeostasisplaysavitalroleinwhattheskindoes.Homeostasiscanbemaintainedwhen
theskinperformsaswellasitcantokeepthebodyascomposedasitpossible.Thetemperaturethat
surroundsyouhasaneffectonthetemperatureofyourskin.Whenthesurroundingtemperatureisabove
bodytemperature,thenradiation,convection,andconductiontransportheatintothebodyinsteadofout
ofthebody.Sincetherehastobeanoutwardtransferofheat,theonlymechanismsleftunderthose
circumstancesaretheevaporationofperspirationfromtheskinandtheevaporativecoolingfrom
moisture.Itissaidthatweloseanestimateof600gramsofskinmoistureperdayduetoperspiration
coolingofthebody.Thevariationofthetemperatureofskinisbetween33.5and36.9degreescelsius.
Theskinstemperatureisloweroverpartsofthebodythatarecurved,suchasthenose,ears,fingersand
toes.Thehigherskintemperaturecanbefoundmorearoundthemusclearearatherthanthebonearea.
Thecelsiusintheseareasistypicallybetween0.5and1degreecelsius.Whenthereisachancethatthe
bodytemperaturemayincreaseduetotheriseofmetabolismorbecauseofthehighertemperaturesinthe
surroundingarea,thesurfacetemperatureoftheskinincreases.Thesurfacetemperatureincreasessothat
induetime,thetemperaturewillactuallyreachthecorrecttemperature.Conductioniswhereheatis
movingdirectlyfromthebodystraightintothemoleculesofcoolerobjectsthatareincontactwithits
surface.Thenthereisconvection,convectioniscontinuedcirculationofairthatisinthedirectionofthe
body.Astheairisbeginningtogetheated,itmovesawayfromthebodywhilecarryingheatalongwith
it.Thatheatisthenreplacedwithcoolerairthatismovinginthedirectionofthebody.Radiationis
knownastheenergyformthatinvolvesvisiblelight,ultravioletlightandexrays.Radiationstakesplace
whenthebodyheatislostasinfraredrays.

Inthisgraph,itiscomparingtheamountofsweatglandsthataredrawnfromthedata.Fromthexaxis
goingupthatistheareaofthebodythatIused.Alongtheyaxisistheamountofsweatglandsthatwere
countedinmydata.

Inthisgraph,thedatathatisbeingshownisthatoftheskintemperaturerecoveryfromalabthatinvolved
ice.Theinformationthatislabeledacrossthexaxisiswhatrepresentstime.Theinformationthatison
theyaxisrepresentsthedegreescelciusthatitstartsoutwith,aswellastherateafter30and90seconds,
andtherecoverytime.

SensoryFunction
Therearefourtactileexperiencesthatthehandisassociatedwith.Thosefourtactileexperiences
arevibration,touch,pressureandpain.Ourmosthighlydevelopedhumansenseoftouchisin
thehandwhereitisusedforasacognitivefunctionwhendealingwithobjects.Sensory
receptorsthatareintheskintransferinformationtothebrainthatthenhelpsdetectthesizeand
shapeoftheobjectthatisbeingheldinhand.Thesereceptorsassistusinunderstandingwhether
theobjectissmooth,hot,coldorneutralintemperature.Thesereceptorsalsohelpwithtelling
whetherornottheoverallfeelingwasmorepainorpleasure.Thetactilesenseisoneofthemany
submodalitiesofthesensorysystem.Whenthebodycomesintocontactwiththeouter
environment,itthenstretchesoutbecausetheskinisratherpliable.Whenitcomestocontact,it
isfeltasalighttouch,pressure,orpaindependingonhowmuchexertionofforcethereis.Touch
canbedetectedasstroking,tappingorvibrationwhenthereismovementontheskinfromthe
stimulus.Sensorycomponentsoftouchareanatomicallyconnectedthroughthebrain.The
beginningprocessoftouchstartsoutwiththesensorytransductionmechanismsbytheskin
deformingphysicallywhichisthentransformedintoelectricalsignals.Sinceskiniselastic,that
permitsthereceptorstodistinguishtheshape,textureandpressurethatisappliedbytheski

Thesmalleritis,thelesssensitiveitis.Sincemyarmsarelarger,thatmeanstheyareextremely
sensitive.Myheadissmallerinsize,sothatmeansthatmyheadisnotthatsensitive.Mylegs
areverysensitive,andmyfeetarenotthatsensitiveatall.

Inthisgraph,theresultsthatarebeingshowninthetwopointdiscriminationtestresultsgraph
containsthethreehighestandthethreelowestmeasurements.Thebargraphofthebodypart
correspondswithmm,whicharetheunitsofmeasurementthatwerebeingusedinthelab.

SourcesUsed:
Shier,D.,&Butler,J.(2006).
Hole'sessentialsofhumananatomyandphysiology
(9thed.).
Boston:McGrawHill.
http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/coobod.html
Gardner,EstherP(May2010)Touch.In:EncyclopediaofLifeSciences(ELS).JohnWiley&
Sons,Ltd