CONTROL AND COORDINATION

Nervous System:
• Multicellular animals, except sponges have specialised cells called neurons for responding to stimuli.
• A neuron or nerve cell is the structural and functional unit of the nervous system.
• Nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord nerves, receives information from the surroundings, processes and
interprets it, and responds accordingly.
• The nervous system also passes information from one internal system to another, for example smell or taste of food causes
salivation.

Coordination in Plants:
• Plants do not have structures comparable to neurons.
• Plants respond to light, touch, gravitational force and other stimuli.
• Growth and movements in plants are regulated by both external and internal factors.

Phytohormones: The function of control and coordination in plants is performed by chemical substances known as plant hormones
or phytohormones.

Phytohormones are of different types namely –

Auxins – It is a growth hormone found at the root and shoot tips.

Gibberelin – It is also a growth promoting hormone.
Cytokinin – It helps in cell division and is found in the seeds and the fruits.
Abscisic Acid (ABA) – It has a inhibitory effect on the growth.

Tropism: The movement of a plant in the direction of stimulus is known as tropism.

(a) Phototropism – When a growing plant is illuminated by light, it responds by bending towards the light, this is called
phototropism.
(b) Geotropism – Movement of the plant in response to gravitational force is called geotropism. Roots grow towards gravity while
the shoots grow away from the gravity.
(c) Chemotropism – Movement of plant in response to chemical substance is known as chemotropism e.g. movement of pollen
tube during fertilization.

Nastic Movement: Movement in plants which is neither towards or away from the stimulus is known as nastic movement
e.g.bending and drooping of leaves on touching as in ‘touch me not plant’.

Coordination in Animals:
• Multicellular animals have specialised cells called neurons to respond to stimuli.
• Animals have a variety of external information through specialised structures called sense receptors (receptors).
Photoreceptors for light, phonoreceptors for sound and olfacto receptors for smell.
• Sensory Neurons – The nerve cells which pass the information form the receptors to the brain are called sensory neurons.
• Motor Neurons – The neurons which transmit information from the brain to the effector organs are called motor neurons.
• Effector organs are mainly muscles and glands.

Nervous System is composed of – (i) central nervous system that includes brain and spinal cord.
(ii) peripheral nervous system which consists of cranial, spinal and other nerves.

Nerve Cell or Neuron: Neuron is the structural and functional unit of nervous system. It is the largest cell in the body.
A typical neuron has three components –
(a) Cell body – It contains nucleus and granular cytoplasm.
(b) Dendrites – Dendrites are short and branched processes. They carry the nerve impulse towards the cell body.
(c) Axon – Axon is a single, elongated fibre. They carry nerve impulse away from the cell body.
Both dendrites and axon arise from cell body.

Synapse: The functional junction between neurons is called synapse. It helps in the exchange of information between the neurons.
Nerve Impulse: The information passing through neurons are in form of chemical and electrical signals called nerve impulse.
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Brain: Brain is the highest coordinating centre in the body.
• It is protected by cranium, a bony box in the skull.
• It is covered by three membranes called meninges.
• The space between the membranes is filled by cerebrospinal fluid that protects the brain from mechanical shocks.
• Brain is broadly divided into three regions – forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.
Forebrain – It consists of cerebrum and olfactory lobes.
Cerebrum: It consists of two cerebral hemisphere.
It has sensory areas where information (impulse) is received from sense organs (receptors)
It also has motor area from where impulses are sent to muscle or effector organs.
In the cerebrum, occipital lobe is the region for visual reception, temporal lobe for auditory reception,
parietal lobe for touch, smell, temperature and frontal lobe for muscular activities.
Hindbrain – It consists of three centres cerebellum, pons and medulla oblongata.

Medulla oblongata: It is the regulating centre for swallowing, coughing, sneezing and vomiting.
Pons: It takes part in the regulation of respiration.
Cerebellum: It controls and coordinates the movement and posture.

Spinal Cord:
• It is a cylindrical structure.
• It begins in continuation with the medulla oblongata and extends downwards, enclosed within vertebral column.
• A total of 31 pairs of spinal nerves arise from the spinal cord.

Autonomic Nervous System: It controls and integrates the functions of internal organs like heart, blood vessels and glands. It is
divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic systems which have opposite effect on the organs i.e. if one is stimulatory, the other
is inhibitory.

Reflex Action: It is defined as an unconscious and involuntary response of effectors (muscles and glands) to a stimulus.

Reflex Arc: In reflex action, a message from receptors is relayed by sensory nerves to the spinal cord, which sends information
for response via motor nerves. This pathway is known as reflex arc.

sensory nerves
Receptors (like skin)
Spinal cord
motor nerves
Effectors (like muscle)

Reflex arc

Hormones: Hormones are chemical substances secreted in trace amounts by specialised tissues called endocrine glands.
Hormones are involved in the regulation of several functions like growth, metabolism etc.

Endocrine glands do not have ducts to pass their hormones, so they are also called ductless glands.

Characteristics of a hormone are –

(a) they are specific chemical messengers,
(b) they are secreted by endocrine glands,
(c) they are poured directly into the blood and carried by blood circulation
(d) they act on specific tissue/organ called target organ.

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 Endocrine glands, their hormones and functions

Endocrine glands Hormones Functions

Hypothalamus Releasing hormones Regulation of the secretion of hormones from pituitary gland.

Pituitary (hypophysis) Growth hormone Development of bones and muscles

Trophic hormones Regulation of the secretion of hormones from endocrine

gland like adrenal, thyroid, testes and ovary
Prolactin Regulation of function of mammary gland

Vasopressin Regulation of water and electrolyte balance

Oxytocin Stimulates contractions of smooth muscles, help in child birth

and lactation

Thyroid Thyroxine Regulation of metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein

Parathyroid Parathyroid hormone Regulation of blood calcium and phosphate

Adrenal Adrenalin and Corticoids Regulation of blood pressure, heart rate, carbohydrate
metabolism and mineral balance

Pancreas Insulin Lowering of blood glucose

Glucagons Increase of blood glucose

Ovary Estrogen and Progesterone Regulation of female accessory sex organs and secondary
sexual characters like mammary gland, hair pattern and voice.
Maintenance of pregnancy.

Testes Testosterone Regulation of male accessory sex organs and secondary

sexual characters like moustache, beard and voice

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