Coordination and response

● Nerve impulses are electrical signals that pass along nerve cells called neurones
(Electrical impulses travel along neurones)
● The mammalian nervous system consists of the:
○ central nervous system (CNS) – consisting of the brain and the spinal
cord
○ peripheral nervous system (PNS) – (consisting of the nerves outside of
the brain and spinal cord and arises from spinal cord) all of the nerves in
the body
● Role of nervous system is coordination and regulation of body functions
● Describe a reflex arc: neural pathway that controls a reflex. Reflex arc allows
an immediate response to certain stimuli by bypassing the brain

• Involuntary action

• Receptor receives stimulus

• Impulse travels down sensory neurone to spine

• Relay neuron conducts impulse across the spine

• Motor neurone carries impulse to effector

• Effector carries out action

● Reflex action - automatically and rapidly integrating and coordinating stimuli with
the responses of effectors (muscles and glands) and the process does not
involve the brain as the coordinator.
● Synapse: junction between two neurones
● In synapse:

(a) an impulse stimulates the release of neurotransmitter molecules from vesicles

into the synaptic gap

(b) the neurotransmitter molecules diffuse across the gap

(c) neurotransmitter molecules bind with receptor proteins on the next neurone

(d) an impulse is then stimulated in the next neurone

● Synapses ensure that impulses travel in one direction only

Sense organs:

Sense organs are groups of receptor cells responding to specific stimuli: light, sound,
touch, temperature and chemicals
Receptors: Receptors are groups of specialised cells. They detect a change in the
environment (stimuli) and stimulate electrical impulses in response
Pupil reflex:

Reflex action carried out to protect the retina from damage in bright light and protect us
from not seeing objects in dim light

● In dim light the pupil dilates (widens)/ diameter increases in order to allow as
much light into the eye as possible to improve vision
● In bright light the pupil constricts (narrows)/ diameter decreases in order to
prevent too much light entering the eye and damaging the retina

In dim light:

1. Photoreceptors (rods) detect (stimuli) change in environment (dim light)

2. Radial muscles in iris contract
3. Circular muscle in iris relax
4. Pupil dilates/ diameter of pupil widens
5. More light enters the eye

In bright light:

1. Photoreceptors (cones) detect (stimuli) change in environment (bright light)

2. Radial muscle in iris relax
3. Circular muscle in iris contract
4. Pupil constricts/ diameter of pupil narrows
5. Less light enter the eye to protect retina from damage

Stimulus Photoreceptor Radial Circular Pupil size Amount of

muscle muscle light enters

Dim light Rods Contract Relax Widens More

Bright light Cones Relax Contract Narrow Less

Accommodation:

Changes that take place within the eye and the way lens brings about fine focusing
which enable us to focus on objects at different distances.
The lens is elastic and its shape can be changed when the suspensory ligaments
attached to it become tight or loose. The changes are brought about by the
contraction or relaxation of the ciliary muscles

Near object:

1. Ciliary muscles contracts

2. Suspensory ligament slacken (becomes loose)
3. This allows lens to become fatter
4. Light is refracted more strongly

Distant object:

1. Ciliary muscle relaxes

2. Suspensory ligament tightens/ taut
3. This allows lens to become thinner
4. Light is refracted less strongly

Distance Ciliary Suspensory ligament Lens Refraction

muscle

Close by Contracts slackens Fat More strongly

Far away Relaxes taut Thin Less strongly

● Fovea is present in the centre of the retina and it is where most of the light is
focused on and it has the highest density of cones (colour detecting cells). Here
the eyes see particularly good detail.
● There are two types of receptor cells in the retina:
➢ Rods which are sensitive to dim light
➢ Cones which distinguish between different colours in bright light
● There are 3 types of cone cells which are sensitive to different colours of light
(red, blue and green)
● The fovea is an area on the retina where almost all of the cone cells are found
● Rod cells are found all over the retina, other than the area where the optic nerve
attaches to the retina – there are no light-sensitive cells at all in this area, and so
it is known as the blind spot

● Function of rods and cones:

 (a) greater sensitivity of rods for night vision

(b) three different kinds of cones, absorbing light of different colours, for colour
vision

Hormones:

● Hormone is a chemical substance, produced by a gland and carried by the blood,

which alters the activity of one or more specific target organs

● The glands that produce hormones in animals are known collectively as the
endocrine system

Hormone Produced in

Adrenaline Adrenal glands (Top of each kidney)

Insulin Pancreas

Testosterone Testes

Oestrogen Ovaries

➢ Adrenaline is the hormone secreted in ‘fight or flight’ situations

➢ Effects:
➔ (a) increased breathing rate
➔ (b) increased heart rate
➔ (c) increased pupil diameter
➔ (d) Secretion of glucose from the liver
➢ Role of adrenaline in the control of metabolic activity
➔ (a) increasing the blood glucose concentration for increased respiration
in muscle cells
➔ (b) increasing heart rate and pulse rate glucose and oxygen can be
delivered to muscle cells, and carbon dioxide taken away, from muscles
cells more quickly
➔ Diverting blood flow towards muscles and away from non-essential parts
of the body such as the alimentary canal; again to ensure the reactants of
respiration are as available as possible
➔ Dilating pupils to allow as much light as possible to reach the retina so
more information can be sent to the brain.
➔ (c) Body ready for action - muscles primed to respond

➢ Glucagon is secreted by the pancreas

 Nervous system Endocrine system

Made up of Nerve (neurons), brain, Glands and secretory cells

spinal cord

Type of message Electrical impulse Chemical hormones

transmitted along long carried dissolved in blood
fibres (axons and
dendrons)

Speed of action Very fast Slower

Duration of effect Short - until nerve impulses Long - until hormone is

stop broken down

Tropic responses:

● Plants can respond to changes in environment (stimuli) for survival, e.g. light, water,
gravity
● Their responses are usually much slower than animals
● They grow either towards a stimulus (known as a positive response) or away from
a stimulus (known as a negative response)
● The responses are known as tropisms

Gravitropism: Gravitropism is a response in which parts of a plant grow towards or away

from gravity

Phototropism: Phototropism is a response in which parts of a plant grow towards or

away from the direction of the light source

Phototropism and gravitropism of a shoot are examples of the chemical control of plant
growth

● Shoots must grow upwards, away from gravity and towards light, so that leaves
are able to absorb sunlight
● This means that shoots have a positive phototropic response and a negative
gravitropic response
● Roots need to grow downwards into the soil, away from light and towards
gravity, in order to anchor the plant and absorb water and minerals from the soil
particles and to inhibit root growth.
● This means that roots have a negative phototropic response and a positive
gravitropic response
● Plants respond to stimuli by producing a growth hormone called auxin which
controls the direction of growth of roots or stems (shoot). Therefore we say
plants control their growth chemically

● Auxin is mostly made in the tips of the growing stems and roots and can
diffuse to other parts of the stems or roots; spreading from a high
concentration in the shoot tips down the shoot to an area of lower
concentration.

● Role of Auxin in controlling shoot growth:

1. (a) auxin is made in the growing shoot tip
2. (b) auxin diffuses through the plant from the shoot tip
3. (c) auxin is unequally distributed in response to light and gravity
4. (d) auxin stimulates cell elongation (The more auxin there is, the faster
they will elongate and grow)

● Auxin stimulates the cells behind the tip to elongate (get larger); the more auxin
there is, the faster they will elongate and grow
➔ This is an important point. Only the region behind the tip of a shoot is able
to contribute to growth by cell division and cell elongation. This part of a
shoot is called the meristem.
● If light shines all around the tip, auxin is distributed evenly throughout and the
cells in the meristem grow at the same rate – this is what normally happens with
plants growing outside
● When light shines on the shoot predominantly from one side though, the auxin
produced in the tip concentrates on the shaded side, making the cells on that
side elongate and grow faster than the cells on the sunny side
 ● This unequal growth on either side of the shoot causes the shoot to bend and
grow in the direction of the light

● Auxin plays a role in a plants response to gravity, affecting plant shoots and roots
in different ways

● When shoots grow away from gravity it is known as negative geotropism

➢ Gravity modifies the distribution of auxin so that it accumulates on the

lower side of the shoot

➢ As seen in the phototropic response, auxin increases the rate of growth in

shoots, causing the shoot to grow upwards

● When roots grow towards gravity it is known as positive geotropism

➢ In roots, higher concentrations of auxin results in a lower rate of cell
elongation

➢ The auxin that accumulates at the lower side of the root inhibits cell
elongation

➢ As a result, the lower side grows at a slower rate than the upper side of
the root

➢ This causes the root to bend downwards

Homeostasis:

● Homeostasis is the maintenance of a constant internal environment

● Insulin decreases blood glucose concentration