Roles of endocrine and

nervous system in
homeostasis
• Nervous and Endocrine Systems
• The nervous system and the endocrine system receive and process
information about your internal and external environment and then
plans and conducts a controlled response to the environment.
• They work together to produce movement, communication, and
growth, and maintain homeostasis by controlling your other body
systems.
• Detects, process, and respond to information. It controls body
processes and coordination.
• Major organs/structures: brain, nerve cells, spinal cord
• Your nervous system is involved in almost all homeostatic control
loops.
• Reflex arc
• Sensory Vs Motor
• Affector Vs Effector
• There are stimuli all around us that cause our bodies to react.
• Examples of stimuli are things you feel, hear, taste, see, and smell.
(The 5 senses)
• Your nervous system senses these stimuli and responds.
• The nervous system has two main parts that tell us how to react to
stimuli:
• – The central nervous system
• – The peripheral nervous system
• The Central Nervous System
• The central nervous system (brain and sinal cord)
controls our actions.
• The cerebrum controls senses, thoughts and imagination.
• The cerebellum controls movement and muscle
coordination.
• The brain stem and medulla control automatic functions
like heartbeat, respiration, digestion, and blood pressure.
• Nerve cells, or neurons, are the basic unit of the nervous
system.
• Neurons conduct electrical messages
• Peripheral Nervous System
• The Peripheral Nervous System. The brain and the body communicate by
sending information in the form of electrical signals that travel along nerves.
• The peripheral nervous system delivers messages between the central
nervous system and the rest of the body.
• Information enters the nervous system through neurons in the peripheral
nervous system.
• Most of the information then is sent to the central nervous system for
processing.
• After the central nervous system processes information, it signals the
peripheral nervous system to respond.
• The body carries out both voluntary and involuntary functions that depend
on the nervous system.
• Electrical impulse signals that travel along your neurons travel very quickly.
• Automatic movements in response to a signal are called reflexes.
• The Endocrine System
• Purpose: sends signals to the body and controls processes in the body
• Regulate: - mood, growth and development , tissue function, & metabolism
• Major organs/structures: glands such as the adrenal glands or thyroid gland
and other organs like the ovaries, testes, and pancreas.
• The organs of the endocrine system release chemical signals called
hormones to communicate with other organs in the body.
• Hormones travel in blood through blood vessels and cause organ systems
to carry out specific functions.
• Some hormones work with other organ systems to maintain homeostasis
and other hormones work with many organ systems to help you grow.
• Signals sent with hormones travel more slowly than the electrical signals of
the nervous system.
• An electrical signal can travel from your head to your toes in less than one
second.
• Signals sent by hormones have to travel through the blood stream and can
take about 20 seconds to complete the trip.
• The pineal gland- Secretes Melatonin. Melatonin may help regulate
sleep patterns
• The hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue
anger, and circadian cycles. Secretes hormones to tell other glands
to create their hormone GHRH
• Thyroid controls how quickly the body burns energy, makes
proteins, and how sensitive the body should be to other hormones.
• The parathyroid gland produces the parathyroid hormone to control
calcium storage in your bones. It can cause the bones to take in
excess calcium or release calcium if there is not enough in the
blood.
• Pituitary Gland responsibible for Growth reg, blood pressure, Sex
Organ Functions, Conversion of food into energy, Water regulation
• The pancreas release insulin that controls nutrient levels in the
blood.Regulates blood sugar level
• The ovaries and testes release hormones that control puberty.Both
produce hormones to support body function. Testes - Testosterone.
Ovaries- progesterone & Estrogens
• The adrenal gland produces adrenaline when you are stresses. It
increases respiration, and prepares for muscle exertion. In Fight or
Flight Response- Dilate pupils, Increase heart rate, Suppress non
emergency process, Boost oxygen and glucose supply
• The nervous system is the main mechanism by which the body
regulates ils functions.
• The endocrine system assists the nervous system in regulating
body functions.
• We receive information about the external and internal environment
through the peripheral nervous system (through the cranial nerves
and spinal nerves) by way of sensory neurons.
• We process that information in the central nervous system (brain
and spinal cord.
• We react or respond to that information through a command from
the brain or spinal cord or by way of motor neurons to the
appropriate body organ.
• The central nervous system is the processing center of the nervous
system. It interprets the information received through peripheral
nervous system, analyzes its implications and decides what to do to
maintain equilibrium or homeostasis in our body.
• In the brain, the hypothalamus receives information about the
external and internal environment through the peripheral nervous
system.
• When the information has been processed, the hypothalamus sends
both nerve signals as well as glandular signals (through the
pituitary), thereby stimulating the particular organ or organs to
secrete the necessary hormones.