Co-ordination of Response
- Organisms must respond to changes in their external and internal environments in order to survive
- Organisms need to
- Find favourable external conditions e.g. avoiding locations that are too hot or cold
- Find food
- Avoid harm e.g. from predators or high blood glucose
- Organisms need to
- Changes in the environment, or stimuli (singular stimulus) are detected by specialised receptor cells
- Receptor cells are located in the sense organs e.g. the nose and eyes
- Receptor cells can also be found inside the body e.g. pressure receptors in the blood vessels
- Receptor cells send signals via either the nervous system or the hormonal system to the body's co-ordination centres in the brain or spinal cord
- Signals are then sent on to the parts of the body which respond, known as the effectors
- Effectors can be either muscles or glands e.g.
- An arm muscle would respond to a hot surface by contracting to move the hand away
- The pancreas responds to high blood sugar by secreting insulin
- Effectors can be either muscles or glands e.g.
Receptors are cells that detect stimuli in the internal and external environment
The nervous system
- The human nervous system consists of
- Central nervous system (CNS) – the brain and spinal cord
- Peripheral nervous system (PNS) – all of the nerves in the body
- The nervous system allows detection of stimuli in our surroundings and the coordination of the body's responses to the stimuli
- Information is sent through the nervous system in the form of electrical impulses that pass along nerve cells known as neurones
- A bundle of neurones is known as a nerve
- There are different types of neurones including sensory neurones, relay neurones, and motor neurones
- The nerves connect the receptors in the sense organs with the CNS, and connect the CNS with effectors
- The CNS acts as a central coordinating centre for the impulses that come in from, and are sent out to, any part of the body
- Nerve impulses pass through the nervous system along the following pathway
stimulus receptor sensory neurone CNS motor neurone effector
- An example of this nerve pathway in action might be
hot surface pain receptor in skin of hand sensory neurone CNS motor neurone arm muscle
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- The muscle in the arm responds by contracting to move the hand away from the hot surface
The nervous system allows the detection of stimuli and the co-ordination of appropriate responses
The hormonal system
- Hormones are chemical substances produced by endocrine glands and carried by the blood
- Hormones are sometimes known as chemical messengers
- Hormones transmit information from one part of an organism to another and bring about change by altering the activity of one or more specific target organs
- Hormones can leave the blood and bind to specific receptors on the cell surface membranes of target organs
- Hormones are slower in action than nerve impulses and are therefore used to control functions that do not need instant responses
- Endocrine glands that produces hormones in animals are known collectively as the endocrine system
- Endocrine glands secrete hormones directly into the blood
- Endocrine glands can be stimulated to secrete hormones by the action of another hormone or by the arrival of a nerve impulse
- The pathway of hormone action is as follows
stimulus receptor hormone effector
- An example of this pathway in action might be
high blood sugar cells in the pancreas insulin liver cells
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- The liver cells respond to insulin by converting glucose into glycogen
Hormones are secreted into the blood by the endocrine glands
Comparison of Nervous and Hormonal control Table