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Homeostasis
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A hand presses a button on a digital residential thermostat mounted on a wall, with the display showing indoor temperatures of 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Gloved hands hold a blood sample tube above a rack of vials in a laboratory, illustrating blood analysis in human body science.
How running a marathon affects the body
How does the autonomic nervous system maintain homeostasis?
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A hand presses a button on a digital residential thermostat mounted on a wall, with the display showing indoor temperatures of 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
thermostat Adjusting a residential thermostat. A bimetallic strip inside the device responds to temperature changes by completing or disrupting an electric circuit. In a cold room the circuit is completed, the furnace switches on, and the room's air temperature rises. At a preset level the circuit breaks, causing the furnace to switch off and thereby allowing the temperature to fall.

Homeostasis

physiology
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Homeostasis, any self-regulating process by which biological systems tend to maintain stability while adjusting to conditions that are optimal for survival. If homeostasis is successful, life continues; if unsuccessful, disaster or death ensues. The stability attained is actually a dynamic equilibrium, in which continuous change occurs yet relatively uniform conditions prevail. The general idea of this self-regulating process was explored by French physiologist Claude Bernard in 1849 and the word homeostasis coined by American neurologist...

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