Video Transcript
Which of the following is true
about the adrenal glands? (A) They consist of three regions:
the inner medulla, middle cortex, and outer medulla. (B) They are four glands, each two
located above one kidney. (C) They are made of two regions:
the outer medulla and inner cortex. Or (D) none of the answers are
correct.
To answer this question correctly,
we need to learn some key information about the adrenal glands. So let’s get started.
The adrenal glands make up part of
the human endocrine system. This means that they are
responsible for secreting hormones into the bloodstream to have an effect on
specific target cells in the body. Typically, humans have two adrenal
glands, and each one is situated above one of our two kidneys. With this information in mind, we
can already eliminate answer choice (B), as we don’t have four adrenal glands. We usually only have two in
total.
Answer choices (A) and (C) discuss
the structure of the adrenal glands. So let’s take a closer look at the
internal structure of one adrenal gland to see if either of these options is
correct.
By looking at a cross section
through one of the two adrenal glands, we can see that it’s just made up of two main
regions surrounded by an outer capsule, which here has been colored in pink. The two main regions of the adrenal
gland are called the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla. And they are responsible for
releasing different hormones.
The adrenal cortex is the outer
region of the adrenal gland, found just within the capsule, and has been colored
here in orange. The adrenal cortex is responsible
for releasing hormones that are essential to our survival, for example, those that
control our metabolism. The adrenal medulla is the
innermost region of the adrenal gland and has been colored here in green. The hormones released from the
adrenal medulla can help our bodies to react to stressful situations.
Now, we can eliminate answer choice
(A), as we know there are two main regions of the adrenal gland, not three, and
there is no outer medulla. We can also eliminate answer choice
(C). The adrenal gland is made up of an
outer cortex and an inner medulla, not the other way around.
Therefore, we can deduce that the
facts provided about the adrenal glands are all untrue. So the correct answer is (D). None of the answers are
correct.
