THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

An organism’s ability to react to its surroundings increases its chance of surviving any
dangers in its environment. Your nervous system keeps you informed about changes and
enables you to respond. It has two parts:

The central nervous system (CNS) consists of the brain and spinal cord and acts as the
body’s control centre. The brain, protected by the heavy bones of the skull, is a complex
network of interconnecting neurones (nerve cells) that controls your actions, thoughts and
feelings. It constantly receives and processes information about your body’s internal and
external environment. It then co-ordinates the body’s responses by sending messages to
various ‘effector organs’ which carry out the responses. Your spinal cord is a thick bundle of
neurones running through your spine. It connects with nerves running throughout the body
and acts like a major cable carrying messages to and from the brain.

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of sensory receptors and nerves. It
receives information about your environment and transmits messages to and from the CNS,
to keep it informed and co-ordinate its responses. Sensory receptors, made up of special
receptor cells, gather information about your environment to send to the brain. They are
found in the sense organs, such as the eyes and ears and in other parts of the body, such
as the digestive system. They are sensitive to specific stimuli, e.g. light and sound. Nerves
are long thin white strands branching out from the spinal cord and connecting all parts of the
body with the CNS. They contain bundles of neurones that transmit messages, in the form of
small electric currents, to and from the brain. Sensory nerves carry impulses from the sense
organs to the CNS and motor nerves carry impulses from the CNS to effector organs such
as muscles and glands, which carry out the brain’s responses.

1) The Sense organs

Complete the table below by finding the correct words to fill the blank spaces. You
may need a textbook for some your answers.

Sense Organ Stimulus

eye

hearing

olfactory organs in nose

chemicals in food

pain
heat/cold
pressure

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 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM - continued

2) Overview of the nervous system

Complete the flow chart by filling in the names of the different parts of the nervous
system and their main functions.

PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (PNS)

SPINAL CORD

3) Response to stimuli
Complete the table below by writing down some examples of stimuli detected by the
nervous system and possible responses to them.

Stimulus Response
excessively bright light close eyes
extremely loud noise

130 Stage 5 Science