Final answer:
An example of negative feedback is the lowering of blood glucose after a meal, which features the release of insulin that helps to reduce high glucose levels back to normal, exemplifying a negative feedback loop.
Step-by-step explanation:
Negative Feedback Example
An example of negative feedback is a. lowering of blood glucose after a meal. After you eat, your blood glucose levels rise, prompting the release of the hormone insulin. Insulin facilitates the uptake of glucose into cells, which in turn lowers blood glucose levels back towards a normal range. This is a classic example of a negative feedback loop because the response to the stimulus — in this case, the presence of high glucose levels — is to reduce the impact of the initial stimulus, thus returning the system to its set point, or homeostasis.
Blood clotting and childbirth are examples of positive feedback mechanisms. In positive feedback, the initial stimulus is amplified. When a vessel is damaged and begins to bleed, as one clotting factor activates the next in the sequence, this results in a cascading effect until a clot forms. During childbirth, increasing levels of the hormone oxytocin lead to stronger uterine contractions, which further increase oxytocin release, intensifying contractions until birth occurs.
Mechanisms such as thermoregulation and the sensation of feeling full after eating show how complex and vital these feedback processes are in maintaining our physiological balance.