The study of life, how cells, tissues, and organisms function is physiology. It is the foundation of the answer to the questions: What is life? How are diseases treated? How does the body cope with the stresses put upon it by different environments? Physiologists try to answer these key questions, ranging from the functions of single cells to interactions between human populations and the various environments of the world.

A physiologist works in laboratories, libraries to do research, in the field, and even in space. Normal biological function is studied by physiologists and provides the basis for understanding abnormal seen in human diseases or in animals. They also develop new methods for treating the diseases. Animals are often used by physiologists as models for their studies.

The work of a physiologist for example, may study how an enzyme affects functions of a single cell or a subcellular organelle, a part of a cell. They have used marine snails to study their nerve networks to find answers to questions about the fundamental mechanisms of human learning and memory.

The cardiovascular system of an animal may be investigated by a physiologist to find answers related to human heart attacks and a wide variety of other diseases. Zero gravity is encountered in space flights, and physiologists study how the body adapts to it, or to other environmental changes or stresses. They try to answer the question: How is the body or life affected by environmental conditions such as heat, cold, dry, humid, high or low altitude, or other extremes found on Earth.

Physiologists also want to learn more than just how molecules function is isolation, they want to understand the physiological and cellular context in which molecules operate. In other words, they want to examine how environmental conditions affect the molecular level of cells.

Physiologists may also be connected to the work done within the fields of neuropsychology, pharmacology, cell biology, biochemistry, biophysics, genetics, biology, biomathematics, and several others.

The research of a physiologist is useful and is often applied to human medicine. Clinical medicine is mostly based on the sound understanding of molecular, cellular, and organ-system physiology.

Human physiology is mainly concerned with how the human body works. It is the study of the body through an organ-system approach. The organ-systems of the human body include the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, urinary, and several others including the immune system.

Finally, the importance of homeostasis is a unifying theme in physiology. Homeostasis is the property of a system in which internal conditions remain unchanged, and remain is a similar state. For example, the human body remains in its state even when it may be exposed to the various environmental conditions as stated above. The normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees, but the body may still function normally if the temperature changes slightly. A physiologist understands this and other parameters of the body, and uses the information for research, and the information is used for a wide variety of reasons.

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