Final answer:
Firing rate homeostasis is proposed to occur during dynamic homeostasis, a process that involves physiological adjustments in response to changing conditions, such as during exercise when the heart rate increases above the resting set point to meet the body's demands.
Step-by-step explanation:
Firing rate homeostasis is proposed to occur during dynamic homeostasis, a process that includes temporal regulation and coordination of biological processes necessary for life, such as growth, reproduction, and maintaining a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions.
This mechanism is evident when the autonomic system actively adjusts the heart's beating rate during exercise, deviating from the resting set point to accommodate increased physical demands. Homeostatic mechanisms, like negative feedback loops, help resettle physiological parameters such as heart rate, blood pH, and body temperature after they've been altered by factors like exercise.
When not exercising, without any input from the autonomic nervous system, the heart's natural rate would be about 100 bpm. The parasympathetic system usually brings this down to a resting rate of roughly 70 bpm. However, during vigorous physical activity, the body's increased need for oxygen-rich blood leads to an increase in heart rate, often observed between 120-140 bpm. These adjustments illustrate dynamic homeostasis in action, as the body moves away from resting baseline levels and then uses homeostatic mechanisms to manage the internal environment in response to exercise-induced stress.