ATI TEAS anatomy and physiology: the 12 topics to know
Anatomy and physiology is the biggest part of TEAS science: 18 of the 44 scored science questions, about 41% of the section. ATI's outline names 12 topics: general orientation of the body, then the respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, nervous, muscular, reproductive, integumentary, endocrine, urinary, immune and skeletal systems. Each one is below with what the questions ask, in tables you can study from, plus 12 practice questions and a 14-day plan.
The questions are about structure and function at the level of a first college course: what an organ does, the order something flows in, which hormone or gland does a job, what happens when a part fails. You don't need clinical knowledge, but you do need the body's paths and pairs cold, because the section gives you about 72 seconds a question.
How much anatomy and physiology is on the TEAS?
| Science content area | Scored questions | Share of scored science |
|---|---|---|
| Human anatomy and physiology | 18 | 41% |
| Biology | 9 | 20% |
| Scientific reasoning | 9 | 20% |
| Chemistry | 8 | 18% |
| Total | 44 scored + 6 unscored = 50 | 60 minutes |
Counts and minutes are ATI's for the TEAS Version 7, the current exam (what is on the TEAS test has the whole exam). The 6 unscored questions are mixed in and look the same, so treat every question as if it counts. Because anatomy and physiology is more points than chemistry and biology put together, it is where an hour of study moves your science score the most. For the order to study all four areas, read how to study for the TEAS science section; this page goes deep on the 18.
The 12 anatomy and physiology topics ATI tests
ATI's Version 7 content outline lists one objective per topic. ATI doesn't publish how many questions each system gets, so give the most time to the systems with the most moving parts (heart and blood flow, nervous, endocrine, urinary) and don't skip any: with 18 questions over 12 topics, most systems show up once or twice.
| Topic | What the questions ask |
|---|---|
| General orientation | Directional terms, body planes, body cavities, levels of organization, homeostasis and feedback loops |
| Respiratory | The path of air, where gas exchange happens, how breathing works |
| Cardiovascular | The path of blood through the heart, arteries vs veins, parts of blood |
| Digestive | The path of food, which organ and enzyme digests what, where nutrients and water are absorbed |
| Nervous | Central vs peripheral, sympathetic vs parasympathetic, parts of a neuron, brain regions |
| Muscular | Three muscle types, how a muscle contracts, what tendons do |
| Reproductive | Structures and their jobs, sex hormones, where fertilization happens |
| Integumentary | Skin layers, skin's jobs (protection, temperature, vitamin D) |
| Endocrine | Which gland makes which hormone, and what it does |
| Urinary | The path of urine, how the nephron filters blood, hormones that change urine |
| Immune | Innate vs adaptive defenses, B cells and T cells, the lymphatic system |
| Skeletal | Bone types and cells, axial vs appendicular, joints, what bone marrow makes |
General orientation: directions, planes and cavities
These are the cheapest points on the section: a fixed vocabulary, always described from the body in anatomical position (standing, facing forward, palms forward).
| Term | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Superior / inferior | Toward the head / toward the feet | The heart is superior to the stomach |
| Anterior (ventral) / posterior (dorsal) | Front / back | The sternum is anterior to the heart |
| Medial / lateral | Toward the midline / away from it | The nose is medial to the eyes |
| Proximal / distal | Closer to / farther from where a limb attaches | The elbow is proximal to the wrist |
| Superficial / deep | Toward the surface / inside | Skin is superficial to muscle |
Planes. The sagittal plane cuts the body into left and right (midsagittal: two equal halves). The frontal, or coronal, plane cuts it into front and back. The transverse plane cuts it into top and bottom.
Cavities. The dorsal cavity holds the brain (cranial cavity) and spinal cord (vertebral cavity). The ventral cavity holds the thoracic cavity (lungs and heart) and, below the diaphragm, the abdominopelvic cavity (digestive organs, bladder, reproductive organs).
Levels of organization, smallest to largest: chemical, cell, tissue, organ, organ system, organism. The four tissue types are epithelial, connective, muscle and nervous.
Homeostasis is keeping the inside of the body steady. Most of it runs on negative feedback, which pushes a change back toward normal: body temperature rises, you sweat, it falls. Positive feedback pushes a change further until an event ends it; the two textbook examples are childbirth (oxytocin strengthens contractions) and blood clotting. If a question asks which loop is "rare" or "ends with an event", the answer is positive feedback.
Respiratory system
Know the path of air in order: nose or mouth, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli. Gas exchange happens only in the alveoli, by diffusion: oxygen moves from the air into the capillary blood, carbon dioxide moves from the blood into the air, each from higher to lower concentration.
- Breathing in is active: the diaphragm contracts and moves down, the chest gets bigger, pressure in the lungs drops and air flows in. Breathing out at rest is passive: the diaphragm relaxes.
- The epiglottis covers the larynx when you swallow so food goes down the esophagus.
- The drive to breathe comes mostly from carbon dioxide levels, sensed by the brainstem (medulla oblongata and pons). More CO2 makes the blood more acidic and speeds breathing.
- Most oxygen travels in blood bound to hemoglobin in red blood cells.
Cardiovascular system
The single most tested path on TEAS science is blood through the heart. Learn it as one sentence, then write it from memory until it takes under 30 seconds:
- Body to the superior and inferior vena cava
- Right atrium, through the tricuspid valve
- Right ventricle, through the pulmonary valve
- Pulmonary arteries to the lungs (blood picks up oxygen)
- Pulmonary veins to the left atrium, through the mitral (bicuspid) valve
- Left ventricle, through the aortic valve
- Aorta to the body
Two traps hide in that list. Arteries carry blood away from the heart and veins carry it toward the heart, whatever its oxygen; so the pulmonary arteries carry low-oxygen blood and the pulmonary veins carry oxygen-rich blood. And the left ventricle has the thickest wall, because it pumps to the whole body.
| Part | Job |
|---|---|
| Red blood cells (erythrocytes) | Carry oxygen on hemoglobin |
| White blood cells (leukocytes) | Defend against infection |
| Platelets (thrombocytes) | Help blood clot |
| Plasma | The liquid part, mostly water; carries nutrients, hormones, wastes |
| Capillaries | One cell thick; where blood and tissues swap gases and nutrients |
| SA node | The heart's pacemaker; starts each beat |
Blood pressure is written systolic over diastolic: systolic is the pressure while the ventricles contract, diastolic while they relax.
Digestive system
The path of food: mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum), large intestine, rectum, anus. The liver, gallbladder and pancreas are accessory organs: food doesn't pass through them, but they send in what digestion needs.
| Where | What it adds | What it breaks down |
|---|---|---|
| Mouth | Salivary amylase | Starch (carbohydrates) begins |
| Stomach | Hydrochloric acid and pepsin | Protein begins |
| Pancreas (into the duodenum) | Pancreatic amylase, lipase, trypsin; bicarbonate | Carbohydrates, fats, proteins; bicarbonate neutralizes stomach acid |
| Liver, stored in the gallbladder | Bile | Not an enzyme: emulsifies fat into small droplets so lipase can work |
| Small intestine | Its own enzymes; villi and microvilli | Finishes digestion; absorbs most nutrients |
| Large intestine | Gut bacteria | Absorbs water and some vitamins; forms stool |
Peristalsis is the wave of smooth-muscle contraction that moves food along. If a question asks where most absorption happens, it is the small intestine; where most water is absorbed at the end of the line, the large intestine.
Nervous system
The central nervous system is the brain and spinal cord; the peripheral nervous system is every nerve outside them. The peripheral side splits into the somatic system (muscles you move on purpose) and the autonomic system (organs you don't control), and the autonomic system splits again.
| Sympathetic ("fight or flight") | Parasympathetic ("rest and digest") | |
|---|---|---|
| Heart rate | Up | Down |
| Pupils | Dilate | Constrict |
| Airways | Widen | Narrow |
| Digestion | Slows | Speeds up |
| Main messenger | Norepinephrine (and epinephrine from the adrenal medulla) | Acetylcholine |
The neuron. Dendrites receive signals, the cell body holds the nucleus, the axon carries the signal away, and the myelin sheath speeds it. At the synapse the axon releases a neurotransmitter that crosses to the next cell.
| Brain region | Main job |
|---|---|
| Cerebrum | Thinking, memory, speech, voluntary movement, senses |
| Cerebellum | Balance and coordination |
| Brainstem (medulla oblongata, pons, midbrain) | Breathing, heart rate, blood pressure |
| Hypothalamus | Body temperature, hunger, thirst; controls the pituitary |
A reflex, such as pulling your hand off a hot stove, goes through the spinal cord before the brain knows about it.
Muscular system
| Type | Where | Control | Looks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skeletal | Attached to bones | Voluntary | Striated, many nuclei per cell |
| Cardiac | Heart only | Involuntary | Striated, joined by intercalated discs |
| Smooth | Walls of organs and vessels (stomach, intestines, bladder, arteries) | Involuntary | Not striated |
How a muscle contracts. A nerve signal releases calcium inside the muscle cell; myosin heads grab actin filaments and pull them toward the center of the sarcomere, using ATP. The filaments slide past each other and don't shorten themselves (the sliding filament model). Tendons join muscle to bone; ligaments join bone to bone. Muscles only pull, so they work in pairs: when the biceps flexes the elbow, the triceps relaxes, and the triceps extends it.
Reproductive system
- Male: the testes make sperm and testosterone; sperm mature in the epididymis and travel through the vas deferens; the seminal vesicles and prostate add fluid to make semen.
- Female: the ovaries release eggs and make estrogen and progesterone; fertilization usually happens in the uterine (fallopian) tube; the embryo implants in the uterus lining.
- Hormones that run the cycle: FSH and LH from the anterior pituitary. A surge of LH triggers ovulation. Progesterone keeps the uterus lining ready for a pregnancy.
- Sperm and eggs are made by meiosis and carry half the chromosomes (23 in humans); fertilization restores 46. This overlaps with the biology questions.
Integumentary system
The skin, hair, nails and the glands in the skin. Skin has three layers: the epidermis on top (no blood vessels; keratin for toughness, melanin for color), the dermis below (blood vessels, nerves, hair follicles, sweat and oil glands) and the hypodermis, or subcutaneous layer (fat that insulates and cushions).
Know its jobs: a barrier against germs and water loss, temperature control (sweating, and blood vessels widening or narrowing), sensation, and making vitamin D when sunlight hits it.
Endocrine system
Glands release hormones into the blood. Questions name a gland and ask for its hormone, or describe an effect and ask which hormone causes it.
| Gland | Hormone | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hypothalamus | Releasing hormones; makes ADH and oxytocin | Controls the pituitary |
| Anterior pituitary | Growth hormone, TSH, ACTH, FSH, LH, prolactin | Growth; tells the thyroid, adrenals and gonads what to do; milk production |
| Posterior pituitary | ADH, oxytocin (stores and releases them) | ADH: kidneys keep water. Oxytocin: contractions, milk let-down |
| Thyroid | T3 and T4; calcitonin | Sets metabolic rate; calcitonin lowers blood calcium |
| Parathyroids | Parathyroid hormone (PTH) | Raises blood calcium |
| Adrenal cortex | Cortisol, aldosterone | Stress response and blood sugar; aldosterone keeps sodium (and water) |
| Adrenal medulla | Epinephrine, norepinephrine | Fight or flight |
| Pancreas (islets) | Insulin, glucagon | Insulin lowers blood sugar; glucagon raises it |
| Pineal | Melatonin | Sleep cycle |
| Ovaries / testes | Estrogen and progesterone / testosterone | Sex traits and reproduction |
Two pairs work against each other and are favorites: insulin and glucagon (blood sugar), calcitonin and PTH (blood calcium).
Urinary system
The path: kidneys, ureters, bladder, urethra. Each kidney has about a million nephrons, the units that clean the blood in three steps:
- Filtration in the glomerulus: water and small molecules are pushed out of the blood into Bowman's capsule.
- Reabsorption along the tubule: water, glucose, sodium and other things the body needs go back into the blood.
- Secretion: extra wastes and ions are moved from the blood into the tubule.
What's left is urine. ADH makes the kidneys keep more water (urine gets darker and smaller); aldosterone makes them keep more sodium, and water follows. The kidneys also help set blood pressure and blood pH, and make erythropoietin, which tells the bone marrow to make red blood cells.
Immune system
| Innate (nonspecific) | Adaptive (specific) | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Immediate | Days the first time; faster after, through memory cells |
| Examples | Skin and mucus, stomach acid, fever, inflammation, phagocytes (neutrophils, macrophages) | B cells make antibodies; helper T cells coordinate; cytotoxic T cells kill infected cells |
| Memory | No | Yes: the reason vaccines work |
The lymphatic system returns extra tissue fluid to the blood and filters it through lymph nodes, where white blood cells meet germs. The spleen filters blood, and the thymus is where T cells mature (B cells mature in the bone marrow). Active immunity is your body making its own antibodies (after an infection or a vaccine); passive immunity is receiving them (from the mother through the placenta or breast milk).
Skeletal system
- An adult has 206 bones. The axial skeleton is the skull, spine, ribs and sternum; the appendicular skeleton is the limbs plus the shoulder and hip girdles.
- Bone types by shape: long (femur), short (wrist bones), flat (skull, sternum), irregular (vertebrae), sesamoid (kneecap).
- Bone cells: osteoblasts build bone, osteoclasts break it down, osteocytes maintain it. A memory trick: the "c" in osteoclast for "cut".
- Red bone marrow makes blood cells (hematopoiesis); yellow marrow stores fat.
- Bones store calcium and phosphorus, protect organs and work with muscles as levers.
- Joints: fibrous (skull sutures, no movement), cartilaginous (between vertebrae, a little), synovial (knee, shoulder, hip: free movement, with a ball-and-socket or hinge shape).
12 TEAS anatomy and physiology practice questions
Cover the answers, give yourself 72 seconds each, then check. Each answer points back to the section above.
- Which chamber of the heart receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs?
Answer: left atrium, through the pulmonary veins. - Which structure is distal to the elbow? (a) shoulder (b) humerus (c) wrist (d) clavicle
Answer: (c) wrist, farther from where the arm attaches. - Where does protein digestion begin?
Answer: the stomach, with pepsin and hydrochloric acid. - A patient's blood sugar is high after a meal. Which hormone brings it down, and which organ releases it?
Answer: insulin, from the pancreas. - Which part of the nervous system slows the heart rate after a scare is over?
Answer: the parasympathetic division. - In which structure does gas exchange take place in the lungs?
Answer: the alveoli. - Which muscle type is involuntary and striated?
Answer: cardiac muscle. - Which step of urine formation returns glucose to the blood?
Answer: tubular reabsorption. - Which cells build new bone tissue?
Answer: osteoblasts. - Which plane divides the body into front and back halves?
Answer: the frontal (coronal) plane. - Which cells make antibodies?
Answer: B cells (as plasma cells). - Which skin layer has no blood vessels?
Answer: the epidermis.
Twelve questions can't show you which systems cost you points across a real section. Our free TEAS practice test mixes science with the other three sections and scores you against your program's minimum; then the TEAS science practice test has 20 more science questions with answers.
A 14-day plan for TEAS anatomy and physiology
About 45 minutes a day. Each day: 30 minutes learning one block from this page, 15 minutes of questions on it. Every third day, redo the questions you missed before.
| Day | Study | Can you do this from memory? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | General orientation | All directional terms, the three planes, the cavities |
| 2 | Cardiovascular, part 1 | The 7-step blood path in under 30 seconds |
| 3 | Cardiovascular, part 2; respiratory | Blood parts; the path of air; how the diaphragm works |
| 4 | Review days 1–3 | Redo every missed question |
| 5 | Digestive | The enzyme table, where absorption happens |
| 6 | Nervous | Sympathetic vs parasympathetic; brain regions |
| 7 | Review days 5–6; one timed set | 12 questions in 15 minutes |
| 8 | Endocrine | The gland and hormone table, both opposing pairs |
| 9 | Urinary | The path; filtration, reabsorption, secretion; ADH and aldosterone |
| 10 | Muscular and skeletal | Muscle types; sliding filament; bone cells; joints |
| 11 | Immune and integumentary | Innate vs adaptive; skin layers and jobs |
| 12 | Reproductive | Structures, FSH and LH, where fertilization happens |
| 13 | Full timed science section | 50 questions in 60 minutes |
| 14 | Fix the misses from day 13 | Each miss: the system, the fact, one more question on it |
With fewer days, keep the order and merge pairs. With more, add a second timed section. A longer plan for all four sections is in the four-week TEAS plan.
Mistakes that cost points on TEAS anatomy and physiology
- Calling every artery oxygen-rich. Direction defines arteries and veins, not oxygen; the pulmonary vessels are the exception the test likes.
- Mixing up the left and right heart. Right side: low-oxygen blood to the lungs. Left side: oxygen-rich blood to the body.
- Calling bile an enzyme. It emulsifies fat; lipase digests it.
- Swapping the opposing hormones. Insulin lowers blood sugar, glucagon raises it; calcitonin lowers blood calcium, PTH raises it.
- Reading "proximal" as "close to the body's center". For limbs it means closer to where the limb attaches.
- Memorizing names without jobs. Most questions describe a job or a failure and ask for the part, so learn each part as "name, does what".
- Spending all science time here. 18 questions is the biggest block, but 26 scored questions are still biology, chemistry and scientific reasoning. Our TEAS chemistry review covers the 8 chemistry questions the same way.
TEAS anatomy and physiology FAQ
Does the TEAS have anatomy and physiology?
Yes. Human anatomy and physiology is one of the four science content areas: 18 of the 44 scored science questions.
How many anatomy and physiology questions are on the TEAS 7?
18 scored questions, the largest content area of the science section. The 6 unscored science questions may include some too.
Which body systems are on the TEAS?
ATI lists general orientation plus 11 systems: respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, nervous, muscular, reproductive, integumentary, endocrine, urinary, immune and skeletal.
Do I need to take an anatomy class before the TEAS?
Not by ATI's rules; your program may list anatomy as a prerequisite for admission, which is separate. If you haven't taken it, the tables on this page are the core the questions draw on, and a free textbook such as OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology fills the gaps.
What is the hardest anatomy and physiology topic on the TEAS?
ATI doesn't publish which topics are missed most. The ones with order and pairs to keep straight (the blood path through the heart, the endocrine glands, the nephron) take the most study time for most people, so they come first in the plan.
Sources
- ATI, ATI TEAS exam details (science questions, minutes, content areas). Read for our format guide, October 2026.
- ATI, ATI TEAS Version 7 content outline (the 12 anatomy and physiology objectives).
- OpenStax, Anatomy and Physiology 2e, Rice University: the facts in each system section.
- Open Exam Prep, TEAS science study guide; Archer Review TEAS 7 anatomy and physiology webinar listings: topic order. Read 2026-11-02.
More science guides: how to study for the TEAS science section, the TEAS science practice test, TEAS chemistry review, or all guides. To see which systems are costing you points, take the free practice test: 15 questions across the four sections, scored against your program's minimum.