Coordination and response

Chapter 13
Syllabus point 14

Changes in an organism’s environment are called stimuli.

Stimuli are sensed by special receptor cells called effectors.

There is a communication system between receptors and effectors. The way in which
receptors pick up information and pass it on to effectors is called coordination.

Communication is done by either nerves, making up the nervous system (fastest method of
communication) or hormones making up part of the endocrine system

Human nervous system:

The human nervous system is made up of special cells called neurons.
Neurons have long thin fibres of cytoplasm stretching out of the cell body, the longest one
called an axon.
The shorter fibres are called dendrites. The dendrites are responsible for picking up nerve
impulses from other neurons nearby.

Nerve impulse: an electrical signal that passes along nerve cells called neurons
These impulses are very fast allowing for rapid responses.

The nervous system coordinates the activities of sensory receptors, decision making centres
in the Central Nervous System and effectors (muscles and glands)

The human nervous system consists of

 Central nervous system:
Made up of the brain and spinal cord
All nerves spread out from the CNS, to other regions of the body and sense organs
The CNS is a central coordinating centre for impulses that come in/sent out from/to any part
of the body.
When a receptor detects a stimulus, it sends the electrical impulse top the bran or spinal
cord which receives the impulse and sends it along to the appropriate nerve fibers and to
the appropriate effector.
 Peripheral nervous system
All of the nerves and receptors in your body

Types of neurons:
- Sensory neurons: carry impulses from sense organs to the CNS
They are long and have a cell body branching off the middle of the axon
- Relay neurons: connect sensory and motor neurons inside the CNS
They are short and have a small cell body at one end with many dendrites branching off
- Motor neurons: carry impulses from the CNS to effectors
They are long and have a large cell body at one end with long dendrites branching off it
Involuntary action: not under our conscious control
Voluntary action: actions we decide to carry out

Reflex arcs
Reflex actions are involuntary. It’s a response to a stimulus that our brain doesn’t have to
think about and you only become consciously made aware of what’s happening after the
message has already been sent to your muscles.

Impulses are picked up by sensory receptors and travel along a sensory neuron (via axon) to
the spinal cord. In the spinal cord the impulse is passes to several other relay neurons which
then pass the impulse to both the brain and an effector (muscle) via the axon of a motor
neurone. The muscle then contracts
Reflex arcs are the pathway along which the nerve impulse passes

Synapses:
Synapse: a junction between 2 nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses
pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter.

The 3 neurones involved in the reflex arc don’t quite connect with one another. There are
small gaps called synaptic clefts between each pair.
The synapse is both ends of the neurones plus the cleft itself.

Inside a sensory neurone’s axon are hundreds of vesicles containing the chemical
transmitter substance or neurotransmitter.
When an impulse arrives along the axon of the sensory neurone, it causes the vesicles to
move in their cell membranes and empty their contents into the synaptic cleft.
The neurotransmitter quickly diffuses across the tiny gap and attaches to the receptor
molecule in the cell membrane of the relay molecule. (The shape of the neurotransmitter is
complementary to the shape of the receptor molecules.)
This binding of the neurotransmitter and the receptors triggers a nerve impulse in the relay
neurone. This impulse sweeps along the relay neurone until it reaches the next synapse.
Here a similar process occurs to transmit the impulses to the motor neurone.

Synapses act like one-way valves. There is only a neurotransmitter on one side of the
synapse so the impulses can only go across from that side. This ensures that nerve
impulses only travel in one direction.

 Neurotransmitters move by diffusion – remember, this requires a concentration

gradient and is a passive process
 Receptors that are complementary in shape to neurotransmitters are located on the
postsynaptic neurone
 Drugs (such as heroin, ecstasy and cocaine) can bind to neurotransmitter receptors,
triggering impulses in different regions of the brain

Sense organs:
Groups of receptor cells responding to a specific stimulus: light, sound, touch,
temperature and chemicals

THE HUMAN EYE

The eye is a specialized sense organ which contains receptor cells allowing it to detect the
stimulus of light

The part of the eye that contains the re receptor cells are the retina; the retina contains:
~ rods – cells that are sensitive to light
~ Cones – receptor cells that can detect colour.
Function of the parts of the eye:
structure function
CORNEA (Transparent lens) REFRACTS LIGHT AS IT
ENTERS
IRIS CONTROLS HOW MUCH LIGHT ENTERS THE
PUPIL
LENS (Transparent disc) CHANGES SHAPE TO
FOCUS LIGHT INTO THE RETINA
RETINA CONTAINS LIGHT RECEPTORS (rods; detect
light intensity) (cones; detect colour)
OPTIC NERVE (Sensory nerurone) CARRIES IMPULSES
BETWEEN THE EYE AND THE BRAIN
PUPIL HOLE THAT ALLOWS LIGHT TO ENTER TE
EYE
  The blind spot - the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, where there are
no receptor cells

PUPIL REFLEX
The iris controls how much light can get through to the retina by adjusting the size of the
iris.
The iris contains circular and radical muscles.
Circular muscles lie across the pupil; when they contract the pupil constricts and gets
smaller.
Radical muscles run outwards from the edge of the pupil; when they contract, they make
the pupil dilate, getting larger

In bright light the circular muscles contact and the iris becomes smaller
In dim light the radical muscles contact and the iris becomes wider

Stimulus Radial muscle Circular Pupil size Amount of light

muscles entering
Dark light contracted relaxed wide more
Bright light relaxed contacted narrow less

ACCOMODATION
The way the lens brings bout fine focusing.
The lens is elastic and changes chape when the suspensory ligaments become tight or lose.
This comes from the contraction or relaxation of the ciliary muscles depending on how close
or far the object is
Object far away – light is Object close by – the light is
refracted less refracted more
Ciliary muscles relaxed Contacted
Suspensory ligaments Pulled tight slack
Lens thinner fatter

The human endocrine system:

Hormone: a chemical substance produced by a gland and carried by the blood, which alters
the activity of one or more specific target organs.

Hormones are made in special glands called endocrine glands.

They are carried in the blood so can circulate around the whole body. They transmit
information by bringing about a signal that triggers a response.
They alter the activity of one or more specific target organs.

Hormones are used to control functions that do not need instant responses as in
comparison to the nervous system, the effects of hormones are slower but act for longer
Gland Hormone secreted Function of hormone
Adrenal gland Adrenaline Prepares the body for
vigorous action
Pancreas Insulin Reduces the concentration
of the blood
Testis Testosterone Causes the development of
male secondary sexual
characteristics
Ovary Oestrogen Causes the development of
female secondary sexual
characteristics and helps in
the control of the menstrual
cycle
Adrenaline
Secreted by the 2 adrenal glands, into your blood.
Adrenaline helps you cope with the ‘fight or flight’ response. (Secreted when frightened, or excited)
- Heart beats faster; supplying oxygen to brain and muscles more quickly
- Breathing rate increases; more oxygen can enter blood in the lungs
- Blood vessels in skin and digestive system contact; keep as much blood for the brain and
muscles
- Pupils in the eye widens; allowing light into the eye so you can see better
- Liver releases glucose into the blood; providing extra glucose for the muscles so that they
can release energy from it
Comparisons of the nervous system and the endocrine system
Nervous system Endocrine system
 Made up of neurones Made up of secretory cells
Info transmitted in form of electrical Info transmitted in the form of chemicals
impulses called hormones
Impulses transmitted along nerve fibres Chemicals carried dissolved in blood plasma
Impulses travel quickly Chemicals travel more slowly
Effect of nerve impulse usually only lasts for Effects of hormones last longer
a short time

Tropic responses:

Gravitropism: a response in which parts of a plant grow towards or away from the gravity
Phototropism: a response in which plants grow towards or away from the direction from
which light is coming.
Plants do not have complex sense organs, muscles or nervous systems so they respond to
stimuli from light and gravity by means of plant hormones.

Auxin:
Auxin is a hormone that is only made in the shoot
tip of a plant. It spreads through the pants from the
shoot tip.
Auxin is unequally distributed in response to light
and gravity and stimulates call elongation.

In the dark, auxin is evenly distributed so

the shoot grows rapidly upwards.
Chloroplasts don’t develop in the dark
therefore plants grown in dark become
yellow and spindly.
Plants grown in the dark like this are said
to be etiolated, they are very tall, and
thin with smaller leaves

Weedkillers:
Most weedkillers contain plant hormones. They are often a synthetic form of auxin, made in
a factory like 2,4D.
Weedkillers used to kill weeds are selective weedkillers meaning that the weeds are
affected by the auxin but the plants/grass is not.
The weeds respond to the auxin by growing very fast and then dying, leaving more space,
nutrients and water for the plants / grass to grow.