Control and Coordination

# COORDINATION
It is the interaction of two or more organs of an organism to adjust the life processes taking
place in the body to provide appropriate response to a stimulus.

# ANIMALS – NERVOUS SYSTEM

In animals, such control and coordination are provided by nervous and muscular tissues.
All information from our environment is detected by the specialised 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, and so on.
Gustatory receptors – Present in the Tongue and helps in detecting taste.
Olfactory receptors – Present in the Nose and helps in detecting smell.
Nerve cells or neurons are the structural and functional units of nervous system. A neuron
consists of dendrites, cyton and axon.

The 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. At the end of the axon, the electrical impulse sets off
the release of some chemicals. 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.)
Nervous tissue is made up of an organised network of nerve cells or neurons, and is specialised
for conducting information via electrical impulses from one part of the body to another.
Synapse – A small gap between two neurons through which nervous impulses passes from one
neuron to the other. Electrical impulses are converted into a chemical signal for onward
transmission in the synapse.

Neuromuscular Junction - Neuromuscular junction is a point of contact between the axon end
of a motor neuron and a muscle cell.

# REFLEX ACTION :
Reflex action is a spontaneous, involuntary and automatic response which do not require any
thinking by the brain but under the control of spinal cord.
Example - Withdrawal of hand on touching a hot object, blinking of eyes.

# REFLEX ARC :
Reflex arc is a simple nervous pathway which involves a sensory neuron carrying impulse from a
receptor organ to spinal cord followed by motor nerve carrying order from spinal cord to
effector organ.
# Pathway of impulses through reflex arc -
Stimulus -> Receptor organ -> Sensory nerve -> Spinal cord -> Motor nerve -> Effector
organ -> Response to stimulus.

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM :

The brain and spinal cord constitute the central nervous system. They receive information from
all parts of the body and integrate it.

PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM :

The communication between the central nervous system and the other parts of the body is
facilitated by the peripheral nervous system consisting of cranial nerves arising from the brain
and spinal nerves arising from the spinal cord.

HUMAN BRAIN :
The brain has three parts, namely the fore-brain, mid-brain and hind-brain.
1) Fore-brain - The fore-brain is the main thinking part of the brain and also the largest part of
human brain. It has olfactory lobes , cerebrum, hypothalamus and the thalamus.
- Olfactory lobes are concerned with sense of smell but they are poorly developed in
human beings.
- Cerebrum is centre of instinct, thinking, memorising, reasoning, consciousness, sense of
responsibility and learning, feelings of love.
- Hypothalamus controls hunger, thirst, body temperature and patterns related to sleep
and stress and partially controls activities of pituitary gland.
- Thalamus serves as a relay centre for sensory and motor impulses pain, light and
pressure.
2) Mid-brain - Mid-brain connects the forebrain and hindbrain.
3) Hind-brain - Hindbrain consists of cerebellum, pons and medulla oblongata.
- Cerebellum controls and coordinates the movements of voluntary muscles, maintains
body posture and body balance.
- Pons relay sensory information to cerebellum, regulates involuntary actions like
breathing etc.
- Medulla Oblongata controls all involuntary movements like vomiting, sneezing, yawning,
heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, etc.
How is the Brain protected?
- Brain is protected by a fluid filled balloon that acts as a shock absorber and is enclosed in a
bony box known as the cranium or the skull.
How is the Spinal cord protected?
It is the vertebral column or backbone that protects the spinal cord.

COORDINATION IN PLANTS

When we touch the leaves of a chhui-mui (the ‘sensitive’ or ‘touch-me-not’ plant of the Mimosa
family), they begin to fold up and droop. When a seed germinates, the root goes down, the
stem comes up into the air.
The leaves of the sensitive plant move very quickly in response to touch. There is no growth
involved in this movement.
On the other hand, the directional movement of a seedling is caused by growth. If it is
prevented from growing, it will not show any movement.
So plants show two different types of movement – one dependent on growth and the other
independent of growth. (Stimulus)

1) Immediate Response to Stimulus (NASTIC MOVEMENT)

The movements which are not growth related are called nastic movements.
There is no specialised tissue in plants for the conduction of information. So , Some cells must
change shape in order for movement to happen, plant cells change shape by changing the
amount of water in them, resulting in swelling or shrinking, and therefore in changing shapes.
- Fast response

2) Movement Due to Growth (TROPIC MOVEMENT)

Example - Some plants like the pea plant climb up other plants or fences by means of tendrils.
These tendrils are sensitive to touch. When they come in contact with any support, the part of
the tendril in contact with the object does not grow as rapidly as the part of the tendril away
from the object. This causes the tendril to circle around the object and thus cling to it.
Plants respond to stimuli slowly by growing in a particular direction. Because this growth is
directional, it appears as if the plant is moving.
- Slow Response
Types of Tropic Movements -
Environmental triggers such as light, or gravity will change the directions that plant parts grow
in. These directional, or tropic, movements can be either towards the stimulus, or away from it.

i) Phototropism – The type of growth movement in which the shoots bend towards light
(positive phototropism) and the roots bend away from the light (negative phototropism).
Example – Growth of plant towards light (Auxin)
# When growing plants detect light, a hormone called auxin, synthesised at the shoot tip, helps
the cells to grow longer. When light is coming from one side of the plant, auxin diffuses towards
the shady side of the shoot. This concentration of auxin stimulates the cells to grow longer on
the side of the shoot which is away from light. Thus, the plant appears to bend towards light.
ii) Geotropism - The roots of a plant always grow downwards while the shoots usually grow
upwards and away from the earth. This upward and downward growth of shoots and roots,
respectively, in response to the pull of earth or gravity is, geotropism.

iii) Hydrotropism – The type of growth movement where the roots of the plant grow towards
water (positive).
Example – Growth of roots towards moist soil.

iv) Chemotropism – Movement of plant in response to chemical stimuli is known as

chemotropism.
Example – Growth of Pollen tubes towards the ovule (Positive Chemotropism)

Plant Hormones
1) Auxin – Helps the plants to grow longer
2) Gibberellins – Helps in the growth of the stem
3) Cytokinin – Promotes cell division and are present in greater concentration in areas of rapid
cell division, such as in fruits and seeds.
4) Abscisic acid – Inhibits growth, Example – Wilting of leaves.
# Animal Hormones
1) Adrenaline - It is secreted by the adrenal when the body is in a stressful situation.
Function – It prepares the body in a stressful situation
Example – Faster beating of the heart, resulting in supply of more oxygen to our
muscles.

2) Thyroxine – It is secreted by the Thyroid gland

Function – Thyroxin regulates carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism in the body so
as to provide the best balance for growth
NOTE - Iodine is necessary for the thyroid gland to make thyroxin hormone. Iodine is
essential for the synthesis of thyroxin. In case iodine is deficient in our diet, there is a
possibility that we might suffer from goitre. One of the symptoms in this disease is a
swollen neck.

3) Growth Hormone – It is secreted by the pituitary gland.

Function - Growth hormone is one of the hormones secreted by the pituitary. As its
name indicates, growth hormone regulates growth and development of the body. If
there is a deficiency of this hormone in childhood, it leads to dwarfism.

4) Oestrogen – It is secreted by the ovaries.

Function - Development of female sex organs, regulates menstrual cycle, etc. (Changes
Associated to puberty in female)

5) Testosterone – It is secreted by the Testes

Function - Development of male sex organs, regulates sperm production , etc. (Changes
Associated to puberty in male)

6) Releasing hormones – It is secreted by the Hypothalamus

Function - Stimulates pituitary gland to release hormones

7) Insulin – It is secreted by the pancreas.

Function - helps in regulating blood sugar levels.
NOTE - If it is not secreted in proper amounts, the sugar level in the blood rises causing
many harmful effects. The timing and amount of hormone released are regulated by
feedback mechanisms. For example, if the sugar levels in blood rise, they are detected
by the cells of the pancreas which respond by producing more insulin. As the blood
sugar level falls, insulin secretion is reduced.
Reduced amount of insulin secretion can lead to a disease called diabetes.