The body uses feedback mechanisms to monitor and maintain our physiological activities. There are 2 types of feedback mechanisms – positive and negative. Positive feedback is like praising a person for a task they do. Negative feedback is like reprimanding a person. It discourages them from performing the said task.The human body is like any other system. It carries out a myriad of functions, and like any functioning entity, it needs a way of maintaining balance. This balance is called homeostasis. Our body employs certain methods with which it keeps a measure of how well our systems are functioning. Any imbalance is corrected as soon as possibleso the system is returned to a balanced state.Feedback Mechanisms

Our body uses the feedback it receives from a particular process to monitor how well it is functioning. Based on the outcome, it decides whether it should continue performing a specific action, or if it should stop the action. This is called a feedback mechanism.

The body uses feedback mechanisms to monitor and maintain our physiological activities. There are 2 types of feedback mechanisms – positive and negative.

Positive Feedback Mechanism

Positive feedback is like praising a person for a task they do. This praise encourages them to do more of that particular activity. On the other hand, negative feedback is like reprimanding a person. It discourages them from performing the said task, and they do the opposite instead. In the end, however, it all leads to homeostasis – maintaining a balance within the body. After all, it’s not as easy as snapping your fingers!Negative Feedback Mechanism

The term “negative” doesn’t refer to a “bad” effect, so to speak. It simply implies that the current state of an activity is not beneficial,so the body then brings about the opposite effect.

Let’s consider the case of our blood sugar level. Our blood sugar levels are mainly controlled by 2 hormones – insulin and glucagon. These are secreted by the pancreas through special cellsknown as the Islets of Langerhans. Insulin converts glucose molecules to glycogen and glucagon converts glycogen to glucose.

When the sugar concentration in our blood increases, after a meal, for example, it is detected by receptors in the pancreas. These receptors then secrete insulin. This converts glucose to glycogen, which is stored in our liver. Thus, the sugar concentration in our blood isbrought back to normal.

Conversely, when the sugar levels in our blood drop, this change is detected by the receptors in the pancreas. These stimulate the release of glucagon and stop the secretion of insulin. The glucagon converts the stored glycogen in the liver to glucose molecules, thus increasing the blood sugar concentration.