Chapter 3 : Coordination and

response
3.1 RESPONSE &
COORDINATION
• External environment
• Refers to the physical and chemical conditions outside an
organism and how these conditions affect it

• Internal environment
• Refers to the physical and chemical conditions of the tissue
fluid (interstitial fluid) surrounding the tissues of an
organism

Changes in External &

Internal Environment
 CHANGES IN THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
• Light
• Taste
• Pressure
• Sound
• Temperature
• Touch

Living Organisms

CHANGES IN THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

• Blood osmotic level

• Osmotic pressure of blood
• pH of tissue fluid

Changes in External & Internal Environment

The need for an organism
to be sensitive to changes
WHY?
1. Stimuli
2. Irritability
• ability of a living organism to react to stimulus
3. Receptor
4. Nerve impulse:
• Electrical messages (or signals) which are sent
to the integrating centre via afferent nerve
(sensory nerve)
• Integrating centre
• Processes sensory information from afferent nerve
• decide what to do
• initiate a response by sending nerve impulses via efferent
nerve (motor nerve)

• Response:
• Action taken by an effector in response to impulse receive
 STIMULUS SENSE ORGAN SENSATION
(RECEPTORS)
Light Eye Sight
Sound Ear Hearing
Chemicals in air Nose Smell
Chemicals in food Tongue Taste (sweet, salty, sour,
bitter)
Temperature Warm, hot, cold or cool
Pressure Pressure
Skin
Touch Texture
Pain Pain
 Stimulus Receptor
Nerve impulse travels
along an afferent nerve

Integrating centre
(Central Nervous
System)

Nerve impulse
travels along an
efferent nerve

Effectors (muscle or gland)

Appropriate responses
brings about a response

Pathway of Information Due to External

Stimuli
 Stimulus Corrective Negative
(above normal) mechanism feedback

NORMAL CONDITION
NORMAL CONDITION

Stimulus Corrective Negative

(below normal) mechanism feedback

Pathway of Information Due to Internal

Stimuli
Activity : human response to
external environment
• 2 types of plant responses to stimulus from
external environment:
• Tropism
• Growth movement of a plant organ towards
or away from an external stimulus
• Shows slow responses because they result
from differential growth of the plant

Plant responses to
external environment
 • Nastic movement
• Growth movement of a plant organ that is not
directed towards or away from an external
stimulus
• Fast because it result from osmotic changes
at the cellular level

Plant responses to
external environment
• Coordination:
• The act of making parts of
something work together in an
efficient and organized way

The Meaning of
Coordination
Stimulus Receptors

Nervous System Endocrine system

Effectors

Appropriate responses
3.2 The role of human
nervous system
• NS controls & coordinates the activities of human body
by:
1. Detecting changes (stimuli) by receptors inside (internal
environment) & outside (external environment)
2. Processing the received sensory information about
these stimuli, and decides what to do
3. Initiating responses to these stimuli (taking appropriate
actions)

Role of the nervous

system
• Through detecting changes, processing of information
and the taking of appropriate actions, the NS:
1. Helps us think act consciously
2. Stores information & allows us to learn from past
experiences
3. Adapts the body to changes in the environment (by reflex
or involuntary actions) thus protecting it from harm
4. Controls and coordinates the activities of all other
systems in the body
Organisation of the
Nervous System
Brain and its function
Fore Brain Mid Brain Hind Brain

Cerebrum

Hypothalamus

Pituitary Gland

Mid Brain

Cerebellum

Medulla oblongata

Spinal Cord
CEREBRUM
Cerebral Cortex
 MOTOR AREA

Control voluntary
movement

SENSORY AREA
receive & interpret
sensations from the
whole body

ASSOCIATION AREA
link motor areas with
sensory region
 • Contains millions of
nerve
• Centre of intelligence,
memory, language &
consciousness

FUNCTIONS
CEREBELLUM
• Located at the back and
bottom of the brain
• Has folded surface
• Receives information
from muscles, joints,
tendons and the ears to
maintain the posture
and to balance the body

Cerebellum
 Receives information from muscles,
joints, tendons and the ears to maintain
the posture and to balance the body
MEDULLA OBLONGATA
 MEDULLA OBLONGATA

Relays information between the

spinal cord & the brain

Controls the automatic reactions

in the body
• Heartbeat
• breathing
• constriction of blood vessels

control reflex centre for heart

rate, blood pressure, peristalsis,
vomiting, swallowing and
sneezing
HYPOTHALAMUS
Controls physical expression
of emotions

Coordination centre for the

autonomic nervous system

Associated with homeostasis

& control of hunger, thirst/
water balance, body
temperature & the endocrine
hormone system

Regulates the pituitary gland

PITUITARY GLAND
THALAMUS
 • Processes all
sensory impulses
(except
olfactory) before
relaying them to
the appropriate
parts of the brain
(cerebrum)

Thalamus
SPINAL CORD
• A bundle of nerves that
continues from the
medulla oblongata of the
brain to the pelvic girdle
• Occupies the neural canal
of the vertebral column
• Has 31 pairs of spinal
nerves at intervals
along its length
• Communicates with the
muscles and sensory
organs below the head
through efferent and
afferent neurones
respectively in the
spinal nerves

Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord
Neurone
• The basic unit of the
nervous system
• Transmits electrical
impulses called nerve
impulses
• Basic structure:
• Cell body
• Axon
• Dendrites

Neurones
• 3 main types :
• Afferent or sensory neurone
• Efferent neurone or motor neurone
• Interneurone or intermediate neurone

Type of neurone
Transmission of information
along the neurone
• A neurone:
• Transmits information in the form of electrical signal
• Produce an impulse which is like an electrical current
passing along its length

• Conduction of nerve impulses:

• Involves changes of charges on the inside and the outside of
a neurone
• Involves ions of which the most important are sodium
(Na+)and potassium (K+)

Mode of transmission
along the neurone
• A gap across which a nerve impulse passes from an axon
terminal to another neurone
• Role:
• Transmits information from one cell to another (from nerve
to nerve or from nerve to muscle)
• Causes nerve impulses to travel in one direction only

Synapse
VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY
ACTION
• Involves thought and free will
• Controlled by cerebrum
• Voluntary actions are learned
• Slow response, as the cerebrum needs time to “think”
before an action is carried out
• E.g.
• Raising your hand to answer a question
• Decide to stand up

Voluntary action
(a) Receptors: (b) Sensory (c) Sensory areas of
Eyes and ear (afferent) neurons the cerebral cortex

(f) Effector: arm (e) Motor (efferent)

(d) Motor area of the
muscle contracts to neurones of the
cerebral cortex
raise arm spinal nerve

Transmission of information in the

voluntary action of raising an arm
• Does not involve thought
• Not under the control of the will
• Controlled by Spinal cord, Hind-brain
• Role: to response quickly to avoid danger
• Rapid
• Same stimulus always result in the same response
• E.g.:
• Knee jerk
• peristalsis

Involuntary action
 Type Symptoms Cause
Parkinson’s disease • Shaking of hand at rest • Dopamine-producing
• Weakness & stiffness of neurones in brain break up
muscles • Lack of dopamine (a
• Slowness of movement neurotransmitter) in the brain
• Poor balance which is important in
movement control

Disease of the nervous

system
 Type Symptoms
Alzheimer’s disease • a.k.a getting senile
• cannot remember & behave
abnormally
• patient begins to have
problems speaking,
understanding, reading, and
writing
• Later becomes anxious &
aggressive and wanders away
from home
Cause
• loss of neurones in the
areas of the brain for
memory & other mental
ability
• low levels of
neurotransmitter
3.3 role of hormones in humans
• Ductless (no duct or tube) glands
• Produce and secrete hormones which
diffuse directly into the bloodstream

Endocrine glands
 • Chemicals (organic) secreted by endocrine glands
of the endocrine system
• Serve as chemical messengers which are
transported by blood ; cause changes in one or
more target organ
• Regulate body processes and are only involved in
small amounts
• Have specific & long lasting effects
• Eventually removed from the bloodstream &
destroyed in the liver & excreted in the urine

Hormones :
Endocrine Glands
Endocrine Gland Hormone Function
Antidiuretic hormone Stimulates kidneys to reabsorb water
(ADH) from the collecting tubules
Follicle-stimulating Stimulates production of mature
hormone (FSH) eggs & sperms

Pituitary Gland Luteinising hormone (LH) Stimulates ovulation & corpus

luteum formation in females &
production of sex hormones in males
Thyroid-stimulating Stimulates the synthesis & release of
hormone (TSH) thyroxine from the thyroid gland
Growth hormone Stimulates protein synthesis &
growth
Endocrine Gland Hormone Function
•Regulates the body’s metabolism
Thyroid gland Thyroxine • Helps in normal physical & mental
development
Endocrine Gland Hormone Function
Adrenaline Increases heart rate, breathing rate,
Adrenal gland blood pressure, metabolic rate, blood
flow to the muscles & glucose level
in the blood
Aldosterone Regulates the reabsorption of
sodium ions in the kidney
Endocrine Gland Hormone Function
Insulin ?
Pancreas ?
Glucagon
Endocrine Gland Hormone Function
Ovaries Estrogen • Stimulates the development of eggs
& development of female
reproductive organs
• Stimulates the development of
secondary sexual characteristics
Progesterone • Prepares the uterus for
implantation of a developing embryo
Endocrine Gland Hormone Function
• Stimulates sperm production and
Testes Testosterone development of testes
• Stimulates development of
secondary asexual characteristics in
males
 Secretion of a hormone may be
regulated by:

The level of certain

Another hormone substances The nervous system
(metabolites)

Regulation of Hormonal
Secretions
Regulation of a hormone by another hormone
Regulation of a hormone by the level of certain substances
• Endocrine glands whose secretions are
partly regulated by the nervous system are:
• Adrenal medulla
• receives impulses from the efferent nerves of the
nervous system and secretes adrenaline in response
• Pancreas
• after a meal, the pancreas receives efferent impulses
from CNS to secrete insulin to reduce the blood
glucose level

Regulation of a hormone
by the nervous system
revision
B
A
B
C
C
Coordination involving both the
nervous and endocrine system
• A safety measure that
prepares body to respond to
dangerous/threatening
stimuli
• Involves a coordinated
effort of both nervous
system & endocrine
Fight or flight strategy
system
• Hypothalamus send impulses to adrenal cortex – release
adrenaline
• Adrenaline causes:
• More glycogen to be converted into glucose in the liver
• Increased metabolic rate
• Deeper & rapid breathing
• Faster heartbeat and raised blood pressure
• Blood to be diverted from the surface areas of the body and
the gut to the muscle

The nervous system

• Hypothalamus stimulates anterior pituitary gland –
adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) –activate adrenal-
corticol system
• ACTH moves through bloodstream to adrenal cortex –
activates corticoid hormones – prepare body to deal with
stress

Endocrine system
Characteristics Nervous system Endocrine syd stem
Type of message Nerve impulse-electrochemical Hormone-chemical
Transport Via nerve fibres Via the blood stream
Speed of Rapid Slow
transmission
Areas of response Limited to places with nerve All over the body-one hormone
supply may affect several target organs
at the same time
Nature of the Causes muscle to contract or Causes changes in the metabolic
response glands to secrete activity
Duration of effect Short-lived and reversible Long lasting
Differences between the nervous and
endocrine system
Hormonal imbalance
• Deficiency of growth
hormone:
• In children : pituitary
dwarfism
• Adults: diminished
lean body mass, poor
bone density

Imbalance of growth
hormone
• Excessive
• gigantism (children &
adult)
• In adults: acromegaly
(new bone tissue grow
in the body’s
extremities – jaw
protrudes, hands & feet
greatly enlarged

Imbalance of growth hormone

• Deficiency causes diabetes insipidus
• Causes production of pale dilute urine – dehydration &
extreme thirst
• Excessive ADH:
• Causes kidney to absorb more water & less urine
• Cerebral oedema

Imbalance of ADH
• Diabetes mellitus
• Type 1 diabetes : does not produce enough insulin
• Type 2 diabetes: do not use insulin well enough to regulate
sugar?

• Why insulin cannot be taken as pill?

Use of hormone in
medicine
3.4 HOMEOSTASIS IN
HUMANS
 The maintenance of
relatively constant internal
environment

HOMEOSTASIS
 KIDNEYS

Regulate the water & salt

balance in the body by
Regulate osmotic pressure
• excreting more/less salt
& ionic levels in the blood
• Increasing the intake /loss
of water

Excrete waste products Regulate the blood pH

 RENAL ARTERY : Supplies
oxygenated blood & nutrients to
the kidney

RENAL VEIN : carries filtered

blood away from kidney
NEPHRONS
Glomerulus Bowman’s Capsule Renal tubule
FORMATION OF
URINE
ULTRAFILTRATION REABSORPTION SECRETION
 Water
Glucose
Amino acids
Urea
Mineral Salts
RBC
Plasma
proteins

Water
Glucose
Amino acids

Ultrafiltration
Urea
Mineral Salts
RBC
Plasma
proteins
OSMOREGULATION
REVISION