H.S.

B
WEEK 19
COORDINATION AND CONTROL
Humans must constantly monitor their environment and respond appropriately to any
changes in this environment to help them survive.
To do this, two systems are involved, the nervous system and the endocrine
(hormonal) system.
Some important definitions
Stimulus is a change in the internal or external
environment of an organism that initiates a response.
Response is a change in an organism or part of an
organism which is brought about by a stimulus.
Receptor is the part of the organism that detects the
stimulus.
Effector is the part of an organism that responds to
the stimulus.
Coordination by the nervous and endocrine systems

Coordination is brought about by receptors detecting internal and

external stimuli and passing messages on to the appropriate effectors
causing them to respond.
In humans, receptors are the sense organs containing specialized
receptor cells, and effectors are muscles and glands.

Two systems are responsible for this coordination, the nervous system
and the endocrine (hormonal) system.
The nervous system
The human nervous system is composed of
neurons or nerve cells and is divided into two
parts:
• The central nervous system (CNS), which
consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
• The peripheral nervous system (PNS), which
consists of cranial and spinal nerves that
connect the central nervous system to all parts
of the body.
The PNS is divided into the autonomic nervous
system and the voluntary or somatic nervous
system.
The brain
The human brain is
an extremely
complex organ. It
has five main parts,
each concerned with
different
functions.
Neurons
Neurons are specialized cells that conduct nerve impulses throughout the nervous
system.
All neurons have a cell body with thin fibers of cytoplasm extending from it called
nerve fibers.
Nerve fibers that carry impulses toward the cell body are called dendrites. Nerve
fibers that carry impulses away from the cell body are called axons; each neuron has
only one axon. There are three types of neurons:
• Sensory neurons, which transmit impulses from receptors to the CNS.
• Motor neurons, which transmit impulses from the CNS to effectors.
• Relay or intermediate neurons, which transmit impulses throughout the CNS. They
link sensory and motor neurons.
Neurons have two major properties:
• Irritability. They can convert a stimulus
into an electrical (nerve) impulse.
• Conductivity. They can transmit nerve
impulses to other neurons, muscles, or
glands.
The nervous system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNLceVI8jcc

CSEC Review Biology - Module 4 - Topic 4 - Sensitivity and

Coordination Introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHMhXs7BFR8&list=PLo
9sELkf38jo1da-8_r3Gx-yJut24vdvX

Nervous system and reflex arc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiuXfbwND9s&list=PLo9s
ELkf38jo1da-8_r3Gx-yJut24vdvX&index=6