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Nervous System

Response and Coordination

Coordination is a process by which an organism’s activities are organized to increase its chances
of survival.
Coordination is enhanced by the nervous system & the endocrine system.
The nervous system has three primary functions;
 To collect information about conditions outside & inside the body
 To process & analyze this information
 To coordinate an appropriate response

Structure of the Nervous System

The nervous system consists of;
Spinal cord
Brain
Nerves (neurons)
Sense organs

The nervous system has millions of nerve cells also called neurons which carry impulses.

There are two types of nerve pathways;

- Voluntary – using the brain & body to take conscious action
- Reflexes (involuntary) – quick automatic response to a stimulus which requires no
thinking. i.e. the spinal cord (& not the brain) is involved in sorting out the best
response

Definition of biological terms in coordination

1) Sensory neurone – This is a nerve cell which receive stimulus & changes it to an impulse
& conveys the impulse to the CNS (CNS – Central Nervous System; brain & spinal cord)
2) Motor neurone – This is a nerve cell which takes impulses from the CNS to the effector
organs, e.g. muscles & glands
3) Relay neurone – connects the sensory neurone & the motor neurone together.
4) Impulse – The electrical message carried along the nerve cell.
5) Reflex arc – When an impulse re-routes itself through the spinal cord & back the area of
stimulation
6) Reflex action – Is a response to the stimulus which does not involve the use of the brain,
e.g. sneezing, coughing, blinking, change of the size of the pupil etc.
7) Axon –An elongated extension from the cell body which conducts impulse away from the
cell body
8) Cell body – The mass of cytoplasm (containing nucleus) from which the braches of the cell
originates.
9) Synapse – areas where nerve cells make close contact with each other.
10) Myelin sheath – A fatty substance (with protein) which surrounds larger nerve fibres & act
as an insulator.
11) Reflex – A quick automatic response to a stimulus
12) Dendron – A short extension of a cell body which is involved in receiving stimuli, i.e.
conducts impulses towards the cell body.
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Five key events in the Nervous System.

I. Receptor cells in sense organ detect a stimulus.

II. Nerve impulse travel through a sensory neurone to the CNS
III. Nerve impulse travel through a relay neurone inside the CNS
IV. Nerve impulse travel through a motor neurone to reach an effector organ
V. The effector organ responds, e.g. muscle contracts

(Brain & Spinal cord)

Stimulus →→→ Receptor→→→ Sensory neurone →→→ CNS →→→ Motor
neurone→→→ Effector organ

How do Nerve impulses travel?

A nerve impulse is an electrical charge passing through a nerve. It begins at a sense organ, then it
travels through neurones to the CNS, rather like a current passing from a battery around a circuit.

Neurones are not directly connected to each other but are separated by very small gaps called
synapse. A nerve impulse arriving at one side of a synapse cause the secretion of a chemical
transmitter (neurotransmitter) substance which diffuses across the gap & restarts the nerve
impulse in the next neurone.
A synapse ensures that nerve impulses travel in one direction only.

Type of Sense Sense organ / Sensory cells Stimulus

Receptor
Sight Eyes Photoreceptors (cones & rods cells) Light {(Cones = colour; Rods =
light)}
Hearing Ears Mechanoreceptors Sound & Pressure
Smelling Nose Chemoreceptors Smell (chemicals in the air)
Touch Skin Themoreceptors Temperature
Mechanoreceptors Pressure (pain)
Taste Tongue Chemoreceptors Chemicals in food
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Structure of Motor & Sensory Neurones

Differences between Sensory & Motor neurones

Feature Sensory Neurone Motor Neurone
Cell body - It is located to the side of the nerve - It is terminal with dendrites
fibre projections from its surface
- It has a smooth surface without
dendrites
Nerve fibre - It has both the Axon & Dendron - It only has the Axon

Nerve endings - Its nerve endings are attached to - Its nerve endings are
sensory organs attached to the effector organ.

The nervous pathway of a reflex action is known as a Reflex arc, and it allows for a rapid response
to a stimulus.
Example; Knee jerk
1. The stimulus is a tap on the knee
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2. Receptor cells in the muscle detect the stimulus.

3. An impulse is conveyed along the sensory neurone to the spinal cord
4. In the spinal cord the impulse is on to the motor neurone
5. The motor neurone then conveys the impulse from the spinal cord to the effector organ;
muscles of the leg.
6. The muscles respond by contracting & so the lower leg jerks up

Reflex Action Voluntary action

The response is very rapid The response may be slow
Nerve impulses take the shortest route Nerve impulses take a long route
Spinal cord is involved Brain is involved
Effectors are muscles & glands Effectors are muscles only

Functions of the Spinal Cord

 It conducts sensory impulses from the muscles to the brain
 It carries motor impulses from the brain to the trunk limbs
 It is responsible for reflex actions involving body structures below the neck

The brain structure

a) The Pituitary gland

The gland produces many hormones, some of which act on the endocrine glands stimulating them
to produce their own hormones. Examples;
Anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) – acts on the kidney to regulate the amount of water
reabsorbed in the kidney tubules
Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) – which makes the follicle in the ovary to become
mature & produce oestrogen
Thyroid Stimulating hormone (TSH) – acts on the thyroid gland & makes it produce
thyroxine

b) The Cerebrum
This is the largest part of the brain which divided into the left & right cerebral hemispheres. The
nervous tissue of the cerebral cortex increases the surface of the area & hence its capacity for
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complex functions. The cortex is formed of grey matter (cell bodies of neurones) as distinct from
the inner part which is composed of white matter (nerve fibres of neurones).
Different areas of the cortex contain distinct functions, Examples;
The largest part of the human’s cerebral cortex is concerned with intelligence, memory,
reasoning ability & acquired skills
There are the sensory areas which control sight, hearing, taste, smell & skin sensation.
The motor areas which control muscles of legs, arms, face, eyes & head

c) Cerebellum
it is the part of the brain which controls posture, balance & coordination of movement of the body
in relation to its surroundings. Therefore it is involved in the coordination of muscular activity. (it
receives sensory impulses from the skeletal muscles & sends motor impulses out to them).

d) Hypothalamus
This is the reflex centre concerned with a number of homeostatic mechanisms such as
temperature control, water balance & CO2 levels in the blood. In some of these it works hand in
hand with the pituitary gland. Information from the hypothalamus is relayed to the effectors through
medulla & spinal cord. Other areas of the hypothalamus contain specific centres for the initiation of
feeding (control hunger), drinking (control thirst) & sleeping.

e) Medulla
It is the link between the spinal cord & the brain hence relays information between these two
structures. It has a number of reflex centres which control heart beat, blood pressure, breathing,
coughing, swallowing, sneezing, yawning & vomiting.

The Eye – longitudinal Section

Functions of parts of the eye

i. Sclera – maintains the shape of the eye
ii. Choroids – supply food & O2 to the retina, and also pigments that prevent internal reflection
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iii. Retina – a light sensitive tissue where images are formed

iv. Fovea – a region where the greatest colour discrimination occurs due to concentration of
cone cells.
v. Ciliary muscle – controls the length / curvature / shape of the lens fro accommodation
vi. Cornea – refracts light passing though leading the convergence onto the lens
vii. Optic nerve – sends impulses to the brain
viii. Vitreous humor – protective fluid helps to maintain the shape of the eyeball
ix. Aqueous humor – supplies the lens & cornea with food & O2.
x. Lens – Focuses images on the retina
xi. Iris – It controls the size of the of the pupil
xii. Pupil – allows light to enter the eye.

The Eye – Front View

When the eye is viewed from the front, the only structures visible are;
 The sclera
 The iris
 The pupil
 The conjunctiva

The front of the eye is covered by a thin transparent membrane called the conjunctiva. Dust
particles a washed away by a watery fluid from the tear glands which are under the eye lids. This
fluid contains lysozyme, an en enzyme that destroys bacteria. Blinking helps to spread the fluid
across the conjunctiva. When the fluid reaches the lower part of the eye it drains into a tube & goes
down into the nose.

Reflex actions of the Pupil in response to bright & dim light

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 The circular muscles of the iris contract.

 The radial muscles relax
 The pupil becomes smaller
 And less light enters the eye, preventing damage to retina

 The radial muscles contract

 The circular muscles relax
 The pupil dilates
 And more light enters the eye, for the image to be formed on the retina.

Accommodation
It is the process of producing a finely focused image on the retina by the action of the ciliary
muscles on the lens.

a) Focusing close objects

Light must be greatly refracted (bent)

 Ciliary muscles contract, pulling the eyeball inwards.
 The suspensory ligaments relax
 The lens becomes short & fat (thick)

b) Focusing on distant objects

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Light is less refracted.

 Ciliary muscles relax, eyeball become spherical
 The ligaments tauten (stretched tight)
 The lens is pulled into a long & thin shape
Courtesy of Lebsy Mb