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Nervous System 2

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19 views

Nervous System 2

Uploaded by

Kabelo Junior Jeremiah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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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
• 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 action – Is a response to the stimulus which does


not involve the use of the brain.
- Quick and automatic responses to a stimulus.
e.g. sneezing, coughing, blinking, change of the size of
the pupil, removing a hand from hot objects etc.
6)Reflex arc – a pathway followed by
electrical impulses to bring about a reflex
action.
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
branches of the cell originates.
Reflex Arc
10)Synapse – areas where nerve cells make close
contact with each other.
11)Myelin sheath – A fatty substance (with protein)
which surrounds larger nerve fibres & act as an
insulator.
12) Dendron – A short extension of a cell body which is
involved in receiving stimuli, i.e. conducts impulses
towards the cell body.
• 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 organ / Sensory cells Stimulus
Sense Receptor

Sight Eyes Photoreceptors (cones & Light {(Cones =


rods cells) 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


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
fibre dendrites projections from
- It has a smooth surface without its surface
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.

Functional differences transmit impulses from sense organ to CNS transmit impulses from CNS to effector
• 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
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 Nerve impulses take a long


shortest route route
Spinal cord is involved Brain is involved

Effectors are muscles & Effectors are muscles only


glands
• 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

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