Control and Co-ordination in Animals: Nervous system and endocrine system.

In animals, the nervous system and hormonal system are responsible for control and
co¬ordination.

Receptors: Receptors are the specialized tips of the nerve fibres that collect the
information to be conducted by the nerves.
Receptors are in the sense organs of the animals.
These are classified as follows :

● Phono-receptors: These are present in inner ear.

Functions: The main functions are hearing and balance of the bodh
● Photo-receptors: These are present in the eye.
Function: These are responsible for visual stimulus.
● Thermo-receptors: These are present in skin.
Functions: These receptors are responsible for pain, touch and heat stimuli.
These receptors are also known as thermoreceptors.
● Olfactory-receptors: These are present in nose.
Functions: These receptors receive smell.
● Gustatory-receptors: These are present in the tongue.

Functions: These helps in taste detection

A neuron is the structural and functional unit of the nervous system.

Neuron: Neuron is a highly specialized cell which is responsible for the transmission of
nerve impulses. The neuron consists of the following parts
(i) Cyton or cell body: The cell body or cyton is somewhat star-shaped, with many hair
like structures protruding out of the margin. These hair-like structures are called
dendrit(ii) Axon: This is the tail of the neuron. It ends in several hair-like structures,
called axon terminals. The axon terminals relay nerve impulses.

(iii) Myelin sheath: There is an insulator cover around the axon. This is called myelin
sheath. The myelin sheath insulates the axon against nerve impulse from the
surroundings.es. Dendrites receive the nerve impulses.

● Sensory neuron: These neurons receive signals from a sense organ.

● Motor neuron: These neurons send signals to a muscle or a gland.
● Association or relay neuron: These neurons relay the signals between
sensory neuron and motor neuron.

Synapse: The point contact between the terminal branches of axon of one neuron with
the dendrite of another neuron is called synapse.

Neuromuscular Junction (NMJ): NMJ is the point where a muscle fibre comes in
contTransmission of nerve impulse:

Nerve impulses travel in the following manner from one neutron to the

IMPULSE TRANSMISSION

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’'’’'’’’’’'''''''''''''''''''''''''' Information, acquired at the end of the dendritic tip of a nerve cell,
sets off a chemical reaction that creates an electrical impulse. This impulse travels from
the dendrite to the cell body, and then along the axon to its end in the form of an
electrical impulse. At the end of the axon, the electrical impulse sets off the release of
some chemicals. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters Eg.Acetyl
choline.Electrical impulse changed into chemical impulse.These chemicals cross the gap,
or synapse, and start a similar electrical impulse in a dendrite of the next neuron.This is a
general scheme of how nervous impulses travel in the body. A similar synapse finally
allows delivery of such impulses from neurons to other cells, such as muscles cells or
gland

Human Nervous System: The nervous system in humans can be divided into three main
parts
1. Central Nervous System: The central nervous system is composed of the brain and
the spinal cord. The brain controls all the functions in the human body. The spinal cord
works as the relay channel for signals between the brain and the peripheral nervous
system.

2. Peripheral Nervous System: The peripheral nervous system is composed of the

cranial nerves and spinal nerves. There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves. The cranial nerves
come out of the brain and go to the organs in the head region. There are 31 pairs of spinal
nerves. The spinal nerves come out of the spinal cord and go to the organs which are
below the head region. Act with a motor neuron carrying nerve impulse from the control
nervous system.
3. Autonomous Nervous System: The autonomous nervous system is composed of a
chain of nerve ganglions which runs along the spinal cord. It controls all the involuntary
actions in the human body. The autonomous nervous system can be divided into two
parts:

● Sympathetic nervous system.

● Parasympathetic nervous system.

Sympathetic Nervous System: This part of the autonomous nervous system heightens
the activity of an organ as per the need. For example, during running, there is an
increased demand for oxygen by the body. This is fulfilled by an increased breathing rate
and increased heart rate. The sympathetic nervous system works to increase the breathing
rate the heart rate, in this case.

Parasympathetic Nervous System: This part of the autonomous nervous system slows
the down the activity of an organ and thus has a calming effect. During sleep, the
breathing rate slows down and so does the heart rate. This is facilitated by the
parasympathetic nervous system. It can be said that the parasympathetic nervous system
helps in the conservation of energy.
Human Brain: Human brain is a highly complex organ, which is mainly composed of
nervous tissue. The tissues are highly folded to accommodate a large surface area in less
space. The brain is covered by a three-layered system of membranes, called meninges.
Cerebrospinal fluid is filled between the meninges. The CSF providers cushion the brain
against mechanical shocks. Furthermore, protection. The human brain can be divided into
three regions, viz. forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.

Parts of Human Brain :

● Fore-brain: It is composed of the cerebrum.

● Mid-brain: It is composed of the hypothalamus.
● Hind-brain: It is composed of the cerebellum, pons, medulla, oblongata.

Some main structures of the human brain are explained below :

Cerebrum: The cerebrum is the largest part in the human brains. It is divided into two
hemispheres called cerebral hemispheres.

Functions of cerebrum

Functions of cerebrum

● The cerebrum controls voluntary motor actions.

● It is the site of sensory perceptions, like tactile and auditory perceptions.
● It is the seat of learning and memory.

Hypothalamus: The hypothalamus lies at the base of the cerebrum. It controls sleep and
wake cycle (circadian rhythm) of the body. It also controls the urges for eating and
drinking.

Cerebellum: Cerebellum lies below the cerebrum and at the back of the whole structure.
It coordinates the motor functions. When you are riding your bicycle, the perfect
coordination between your pedalling and steering control is achieved by the cerebellum.

● It controls posture and balance.

● It controls the precision of voluntary action.
Medulla: Medulla forms the brain stem, along with the pons. It lies at the base of the
brain and continues into the spinal cord. The medulla controls various involuntary
functions, like hear beat respiration, etc.
It controls involuntary actions.
Example: Blood pressure, salivation, vomiting.

Pons: It relays impulses between the lower cerebellum and spinal cord, and higher parts
of the brain like the cerebrum and midbrain, also regulates respiration.

Spinal cord: Spinal cord controls the reflex actions and conducts massages between
different parts of the body and brain.

Reflex Action: Reflex action is a special case of involuntary movement involuntary

organs. When a voluntary organ is in the vicinity of sudden danger, it is immediately
pulled away from the danger to save itself. For example, when your hand touches a very
hot electric iron, you move away your hand in a jerk. All of this happens in flash and
your hand is saved from the imminent injury. This is an example of reflex action.

Reflex Arc:

The path through which nerves signals, involved in a reflex action, travel is called the refle

The receptor is the organ which comes in the danger zone. The sensory neurons pick
signals from the receptor and send them to the relay neuron. The relay neuron is present
in the spinal cord. The spinal cord sends signals to the effector via the motor neuron.The
effector comes in action, moves the receptor away from the danger.

The reflex arc passes at the level of the spinal cord and the signals involved in reflex
action do not travel up to the brain. This is important because sending signals to the brain
would involve more time.

Although every action is ultimately controlled by the brain, the reflex action is mainly
controlled at the level of spinal cord.

Protection of brain and spinal cord

Brain is protected by a fluid filled balloon which acts as shocks absorber and enclosed in
cranium (Brain box)
Spinal chord is enclosed in vertebral column.

Muscular Movements and Nervous Control: Muscle tissues have special filaments,
called actin and myosin. When a muscle receives a nerve signal, a series of events is
triggered in the muscle. Calcium ions enter the muscle cells. It result in actin and myosin
filaments sliding towards each other and that is how a muscle contracts. Contraction in a
muscle brings movement in the related organ.
Coordination in Plants: Unlike animals, plants do not have a nervous system. Plants use
chemical means for control and coordination. Many plant hormones are responsible for
various kinds of movements in plants. Movements in plants can be divided into two main
types :

1. Tropic movement
2. Nastic movement

1. Tropic Movement: The movements which are in a particular direction in relation to

the stimulus are called tropic movements. Tropic movements happen as a result of growth
of a plant part in a particular direction. There are four types of tropic movements.
(i) Geotropic movement: The growth in a plant part in response to the gravity is called
geotropic movement. Roots usually show positive geotropic movement, i.e. they grow in
the direction of the gravity. Stems usually show negative geotropic movement.

(ii) Phototropic Movement: The growth in a plant part in response to light is called
phototropic movement. Stems usually show positive phototropic movement, while roots
usually show negative phototropic movement. If a plant is kept in a container in which no
sunlight reaches and a hole in the container allows some sunlight; the stem finally grows
in the direction of the sunlight. This happens because of a higher rate of cell division in
the part of stem which is away from the sunlight. As a result, the stem bends towards the
light. The heightened rate of cell division is attained by increased secretion of the plant
hormone auxin in the which is away from sunlight.

(iii) Hydrotropic Movement: When roots grow in the soil, they usually grow towards
the nearest source of water. This shows a positive hydrotropic movement.

(iv) Thigmotropism Movement: The growth in a plant part in response to touch is called
thigmotropism movement. Such movements are seen in tendrils of climbers. The tendril
grows in a way so as it can coil around a support. The differential rate of cell division in
different parts of the tendril happens due to action of auxin.

2. Nastic Movement: The movement which do not depend on the direction from the
stimulus acts are called nastic movement. For example, when someone touches the leaves
of mimosa, the leaves droop. The drooping is independent of the direction from which the
leaves are touched. Such movements usually happen because of changing water balance
in the cells. When leaves of mimosa are touched, the cells in the leaves lose- water and
become flaccid, resulting in drooping of leaves.
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