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CHAPTER 7
CONTROL AND COORDINATION

Control and Coordination in Living Organisms:

 Living organisms can recognise various events in the environment and respond with the correct movement
of the body.
 Living organisms use systems providing control and coordination.
 In multicellular organisms, specialised tissues are used to provide these control and coordination activities.

Control and Coordination in Animals:

 Control and coordination in animals are provided by nervous and muscular tissues.

Nervous System:
Nerve cells or Neurons:
 Nervous tissue is made up of an organised network of nerve cells or neurons.
 Neurons conduct information via electrical impulses from one part of the body to another.

Parts of Neuron and their Functions:

(i) Dendrite:
 Information from our environment is detected by the dendrite tips of some nerve cells called receptors.
 These receptors are usually located in our sense organs, such as the inner ear, the nose, the tongue, etc.
o Example: gustatory receptors will detect taste while olfactory receptors will detect smell.
 The information sets off a chemical reaction that creates an electrical impulse.
(ii) Cell Body:
 The impulse travels from the dendrite to the cell body.
(iii) Axon:
 The impulse travels along the axon to its end.
(iv) Nerve Ending:
 At the end of the axon, the electrical impulse sets off the release of some chemicals.
 These chemicals cross the gap between two neurons called synapse, and start a similar electrical impulse in
a dendrite of the next neuron.
 A similar synapse finally allows delivery of such impulses from neurons to other cells, such as muscles cells
or glands.
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Nervous System

Central Nervous System Peripheral Nervous System

(Receive information from all parts of (Facilitates the communication between the central
the body and integrate it) nervous system and the other parts of the body)

Brain Spinal Cord Cranial nerves Spinal nerves

(Main coordinating centre of (Made of nerves that (Nerves from the (Nerves from the
the body made of complex supply information) brain) spinal cord)
mechanisms and neural
connections)

Brain:
 The brain processes information and take
actions accordingly.
 Different parts of the brain responsible for
integrating different inputs and outputs.
 The brain has three major parts or regions:
(i) Fore-brain
(ii) Mid-brain
(iii) Hind-brain

(i) Fore-brain:
 Fore-brain is the main thinking part of the brain.
 Receiving Information:
o It has regions which receive sensory impulses from various receptors.
o Separate areas of the fore-brain are specialised for hearing, smell, sight, taste and touch.
 Interpretating Information:
o There are separate areas of association where this sensory information is interpreted by putting it
together with information from other receptors as well as with information already stored in the brain.
 Response:
o A decision is made about how to respond
o The information is passed on to the motor areas which control the movement of voluntary muscles.
 Voluntary actions:
o Actions which are based on deciding what to do next.
o Examples: Writing, talking, moving a chair, clapping at the end of a programme
 The sensation of feeling full is because of a centre associated with hunger, in a separate part of the fore-brain.

Reflex:
A sudden action in response to something in the environment
Purpose:
When our body needs to respond quickly to situations in the environment.
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It is usually used in situation where there is limited time to respond to a situation.

Reflex arc

Difference between Voluntary, Involuntary and Reflex actions