ISAP Lecture 1 Module 1 – Control of Body Systems

Two main control systems

The Nervous System
 For rapid response
o Action Potentials which are nerve impulses
o Neurotransmitters are used to span the synapse between neurons and their effector
organs, which are released by the neurons in the synapse
 May be controlled consciously (with cerebrum) or subconsciously (via somatic or autonomic
reflexes)
 Consciously: with will and deliberate movements and sensations

The Endocrine System

 For slower, more prolonged response – seconds, months or years
 Uses hormones rather than neurotransmitters and these are secreted and transported inthe
blood to target tissue for their effect
 By using cardiovascular system as transport medium does take longer for the effect to take
place
 Controlled via feedback loops

Nervous system overview

Peripheral and Central
 Central consists of brain and spinal cord
 Peripheral made of the nerves that go to and from the CNS
 Includes 12 cranial nerves coming from brain and brain stem
 31 pairs of spinal nerves coming off the spinal cord

Brain Structures
Cerebrum

If we cut the cerebrum coronally, notice the surface of the brain is highly convoluted, ‘hills and
valleys’ – crinkled appearance
Hill – Gyri
Furrow/ valley – Sulci
Cerebral cortexo2-4mm of grey matter, follows the contours of gyri and sulcioIncreases the amount
of grey matter for a given area
oGrey matter is made of nerve cell bodies and the connections of neurons to those nerve cell bodies
where the synapses are
oThis is where conscious thought and recognition of stimuli occurs, allows us to think and be aware
of surrounding and making sense of stimuli
oDeeper cortex changes to white matter, divided into different areas and is madeup of myelinated
axons of neurons
oThese areas are the “wire” that connects different parts, connections to different parts of the
cerebral cortex to different parts of the brain, referred to as ‘white matter tracks’
Diencephalon: thalamus, hypothalamus, subthalamus and epithalamus

Brainstem: medulla, pons and midbrainCerebellumConscious control Sensory information –

tickling the soul of your footoUnderneath the skin there are special receptors that detect touch,
pressure, temp and vibration oThese sensations will fire off a nerve impulse or be stimulated by a
certain stimuli o1) Receptors located throughout entire body: underneath skin, in organs, eyeballs,
tounge (tastebuds) – sensory information starts by stimulating a receptor in the bodyo2) It then
sends off AP heads towards CNS via afferent/sensory neuron which takes information towards
CNSo3) This information needs to be integrated, makes sense of incoming information – travel into
spinal cord, run up the spinal cord in the axons in neurons that are travelling up towards the brain –
via sensory/ascending tracks o4) Nerve impulse will continue to travel up, into the brain through the
brainstem via ascending tracks for interpretationo5) This information will eventually get to an area
within the diencephalon known as the thalamus and the info is then relayed out to a part of the
cerebral cortex – make sense of info o6) Once the AP reaches the cerebral cortex we become
consciously aware of the situation and realise someone is tickling your foot, the conscious realisation
occurs after the AP reaches the cortex of the brainMotor information – movement We start with a
will to move and this occurs in the cerebral cortex Impulses travel down through the cerebrum, and
the brainstem in different axons of neurons known as motor tracks/descending (out to the
body)Information travels down through spinal cord and synapse with a motor neuron and will leave
the CNS and head to the effector organ via motor/efferent neuron, causing the muscle to contract
Conscious control requires the CNS – a deliberate conscience (voluntary) decision to carry out an
activityIt integrates many areas of the brain Involves complicated motor patterns relying on
communication between different areas in the brain allowing us to do increasingly complicated
actions such as running, riding a bike, playing a piano, painting on a canvasTo enable this to
occurNerve impulses must travel great distances because coming from different places in the CNS,
before they head out to cause the movement to occur, as the movement is PAGE 2

occurring there is a conscious movement to occur – different movement patterns occurs to ensure
what we want to do is what actually happensBecause we have lots of connections and synapse the
process is relatively slow, think about them occurring quickly but overall it happens quite slowly. The
complicated movement the slower the reaction time is Reflex oInvoluntary response to stimulus –
rapid response and not controlled oRapid – minimal synapses in the loop between sensory and
motoroPredicable – same response every timeoUnlearnt – can’t be improved by repetition and uses
a specific neural pathway or reflex arc o5 basic components 1) Sensory receptor that detects
stimulus 2) Stimulus is converted into nerve impulse which travels to the CNS via sensory/afferent
neuron 3) When it gets the CNS, it will synapse in an integration area, generally only in 1-2 neurons,
one synapse – mono, more – poly, the more synapse the longer it will take to occur 4) Synapse with
motor neuron, leaves CNS and to the effector organs (smooth muscle, organs, glands, connective
tissue) Reflexes bypass the conscious part of the brain not using the cerebrum, info eventually gets
to the cerebrum but the reflex arc bypasses it Can occur without higher brain centre involvement
and minimal synapses allows for a quicker response Reflexes can be classified functionally as either
somatic or autonomic (visceral) Somatic – deal with skeletal muscles, generally under conscious
control however if reflex isn’t consciousE.g. Patella reflex: occur all the time in the body, protective
and remove body from pain from stimuliAssist with balance and posture, constantly using somatic
reflexesUses brain or spinal cord as integrative area Minimal synapses involvedAutonomic –
Involve smooth muscle (wall of blood vessels or bronchioles), cardiac muscle (heart), body viscera
(organs such as gut wall and salivary glands)Used for maintaining body functions e.g. heart rate,
blood pressure, blood CO2 levels, movement of food through digestive system and defaecation and
micturition reflex (useconscious reflex to dampen down reflex to allow to do those body
functions)Work on same principals as somatic except control different bodily structure Can
involve the spinal cord and the brainstem through autonomic NS PAGE 3

Lecture 2 Module 1 – Control of Body SystemsBrainstemMost primitive part of the brainHas many
important integration centres, important for vital functions and reflexesAll information coming
from or go to the spinal cord must travel through this regionComposed of 3 parts: medulla
oblongata, pons and midbrainMedulla OblongataMost inferior part of brainstem, continues from
spinal cordLots of white matter, ascending and descending tracts and made up of myelinated
neurons, relays information to higher and lower brain centres Many nuclei (grey matter) for
integration of important reflexes e.g. heart rate (cardiac centre), blood vessel diameter (vasomotor
centre), respiratory (medullary rhythmicity centre works in conjunction with pons), coughing and
sneezing, swallowing, vomiting and hiccupping PonsSuperior to medulla, ‘bridge’ between medulla,
midbrain and cerebellum, connects higher centres and lower centres with cerebellumHas lots of
white matter (myelinated neurons) ascending and descending tracts that travel through this region
Nuclei (grey matter) – sleep centre initiates REM sleep, respiratory (pontine respiratory centre
which works in conjunction with the medullary rhythmicity centre, 2 specialised nuclei for
respiration—one in the medulla and one in the pons MidbrainAbove the pons, between pons and
diencephalon Lots of white matter (myelinated neurons) Ascending and descending tracts travel
through this regionHas important nuclei for stabilising somatic movement – conscious movement
Has nuclei responsible for visual (head and eye movement, tracking moving objects) and auditory
reflexes (startle reflex – loud bang, turn and look to see where that noise came from
DiencephalonThree parts that make up the walls of the 3rd ventricle – cavity that’s found in the
middle of the brain Thalamus: (two left and right) relay sensory information from brainstem and
farms it out to particular lobes of the brainEpithalamus: Above and behind the thalamus, area that
has the pineal gland apart of it, regulates emotions and circadian rhythms (light, eyes optic
nerve)Subthalamus: involved in motor functions PAGE 4

Hypothalamus: has lots of important nuclei for integration purposes and many homeostatic
mechanismsThe thalamus, hypo and sub all make up the wall of the third ventricle Hypothalamus
Located in DiencephalonInverted triangle in shapeApex points anteriorly and downward towards
the pituitary glandConnection to the Pituitary GlandAnatomically via Infundibulum (pituitary
stalk)Functionally via network of blood vessels and nervous tracts, a lot of capillaries in the
hypothalamus Important in many homeostatic mechanisms e.g. heart rate, sleep-wake cycle, body
temp, food intake, water balance and thirst Autonomic control – regulating cardiac and smooth
muscle and glands and regulating pituitary glands secretions Pituitary glandSmall pea size gland and
divided into 2 parts Anterior/ Adenohypophysis – grows from the roof of mouth and is made of
glandular cells that migrated its way up to sit beneath the base of the brainPosterior
(Neurohypophysis) – down growth from the brain, therefore neural tissue Anterior PituitaryoMade
from glandular tissueoLarge portion of the pituitary (70-80%)oSecretes hormones in response to
releasing/inhibiting hormones (factors) fromthe HypothalamusoThe hypothalamus secretes
releasing/inhibiting hormones, they will then go into a network of blood vessels and travel down,
around the outside of the infundibulum (pituitary stalk) and then go into the Ant. Pituitary where
these hormones will cause the cells to start secreting their own hormones oReleasing/inhibiting
hormones from hypothalamus travel to Ant. Pit. via a network of capillaries called: Hypothalamo-
hypophysial portal system (network of capillaries in the hypo and then they go into a small network
of blood vessels that will go down to the capillaries in the Ant. Pituitary, additional network of
capillaries Seven hormones secreted by Ant. Pit PAGE 5

Posterior PituitaryMade from nervous tissueSmaller portion of the pituitary (20-

30%)Anatomically connected to hypothalamus via p. stalk Secretes only two hormonesHormones
made in cell bodies of neurons located in hypothalamus and are transporteddown the middle of the
axons to be released from the Post. Pit. in a process called Neural secretion Axons travel through
the Infundibulum (pituitary stalk). In a tract of axons called: Hypothalamohypophysial tractTwo
main groups of cell bodies in hypothalamus produce the two hormonesAntidiuretic hormone (ADH)
stimulates kidneys to retain H2OOxytocin influence on smooth muscle of the uterus & mammary
glands PAGE 6

Lecture 3 – Control of Body SystemsEndocrine SystemConsists of cells that secrete hormones

isolated cells scattered in tissue or cells that arecongregated in groups – glands Different types of
communicationAutocrine - affects the same cells that secretes them e.g. chemicals secreted by
WBCParacrine - affects nearby cells (local) e.g. release of histamine from WBC cause local
responseEndocrine - affects cells some distance to source (target cells/tissue)(note:
neurotransmitters are used to communicate between neurons at the synapse)oEndocrine glands are
a cluster of endocrine cells together, they are ductless secrete chemicals (hormones) into the
interstitial fluid which diffuses into the nearby capillaries and travels throughout the body in the
blood e.g. pituitary, thyroid, ovaries, testis: go into the interstitial fluid that surrounds the cell and
then diffuses into nearby capillaries and when they’re in the blood, they will travel throughout the
body exerting an effect of the target cell. Affects cells at greater distances oExocrine glands have
ducts to secrete their products (non-hormonal) and so arenot classed as endocrine e.g. sweat,
salivary, lacrimal, mucosal: sweat glands: secrete a salty fluid, which travels from where the cells are
located in the glandand will travel to the surface of the skin via a ductHormonesChemically can
be:amino acid based -- Made from amino acids, peptides or proteins e.g. all hormones from the Pit.
oWater soluble except hormones secreted by the Thyroid Gland (T3 & T4) theseare amino acid
derived but behave like steroid based hormonesoSteroid-based – made from cholesterol or fatty
acids e.g. testosterone, aldosterone, progesterone, oestrogen – lipid soluble Their chemical
composition determines how they are transported in the blood and how they affect their target
tissueTransport of Hormones Water Soluble (i.e. NOT LIPID SOLUBLE)PAGE 7

oluble) hormones use this method They CANNOT diffuse through the phospholipid cell membrane
Must use an INDIRECT method of actionHormones can alter cell activity by; oChanging the activity of
the organelles i.e. increase production mitochondria toincrease ATP production or
ribosomesoChanging the cell membrane permeability Increase/decrease uptake of
somethingoActivating a particular cell mechanism Increasing or decreasing productionHow is this
achieved?Depends on membrane solubility of the hormoneLipid solubleoLipid – Direct method
(can get through the cell membrane) oBy influencing DNA within the cells nucleus directlyoSteroids
(Corticosteroids, Testosterone, Progesterone) Thyroid hormones* Triiodothyronin (T3)
Tetraiodothronine (T4)Water soluble oWater soluble – indirect method (can’t get through the cell
membrane) via a cell mediator/second messenger system (most common) oMost AA and proteins
(ACTH, LH, FSH, TSH, ADH, hypothalamic releasing factors, Glucagon, PTH)Direct messenger
mechanismHormones that can diffuse thru the phospholipid membrane ie Lipid soluble
hormonesAttach to a receptor inside the cell which can be situated in the cytoplasm or in the
nucleus, hormone will diffuse through the phospholipid and attach to the receptor, PAGE 8

when it attaches to a receptor the hormone and receptor complex in the cytoplasm willthen pass to
the nucleus where it will have a direct effect on DNA, activates specific genes – parts of DNA to form
RNA, cytoplasm, to ribosome to other organelles and then effects protein synthesisSteroid
hormones: corticosteroids, T3, T4 testosterone, progesterone, oestrogenIndirect messenger
mechanism Hormones that CANNOT diffuse through membrane ie water soluble (Not lipid
soluble)AA based (not T3/T4) and proteins (ACTH, LH, FSH, TSH, ADH, hypothalamic releasing
hormones/factors, Glucagon, PTH)Hormone (is the first messenger) is outside cellCell has
receptors on the outside of a cell membraneThe hormone attaches to receptor Activates a G
protein complex Which in turn alters the rate of cAMP formation by activating or inhibiting
Adenyl-cyclase (an enzyme) Adenyl-cyclase converts ATP -> cAMP (cyclic AMP) cAMP activates
protein-kinases (regulatory enzymes)Cyclic AMP acts as the second messenger Changing cell
permeability Activating other enzymes (kinases)Increasing protein synthesis Stimulating
secretion Effect muscle contraction and relaxationcAMP is then degraded and the effects stop. To
continue effect, need more hormone pAge 9

Lecture 4 – Control of Body SystemsControl of hormone release Hormones levels generally remain
within homeostatic levels and as such must be released when levels fall and suppressed when levels
riseWhat is it that regulates the release of hormones?oHumoral Stimuli oNeural Stimuli oHormonal
stimuliHumoral StimuliSecreted in direct response to changing blood levels e.g. cells of the
parathyroid glandSecrete parathyroid hormone (PTH) in response to falling levels of blood Ca2+
That isthey monitor Ca2+ directly – when they fall, this cell will be triggered to secrete PTHPTH has
effects on a number of tissues: osteoclast start to reclaim bone, take the calcium storage from bone
and push it into the blood Also effects the kidney, the amount of calcium excreted from the kidney,
when it is around the kidney doesn’t excrete as much calcium and retains it in the body Affects
activation of vitamin D, which indirectly has to do with ions from the digestivesystem allowing you to
absorb more calcium from dietThere to increase blood calcium levels when they are low, monitor
calcium ions directly in the blood hence name Neural StimuliNerves directly stimulate a
target/endocrine cell, so AP that travels down the neuron, gets to axon terminal releases a
neurotransmitter into the synapse and that neurotransmitter will attach to the endocrine cell PAGE
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Will then stimulate or inhibit the release of a hormone secreted from the endocrine cellLess
commone.g. Adrenal medulla (centre of the adrenal gland) is stimulated directly by the
sympathetic nervous system, during fight / flight AP travels down the sympathetic nervous system
straight into adrenal medulla The cells of the adrenal medulla are then triggered to secrete 2
hormones adrenalin/noradrenalin which will then go into the blood and travel around the body
oIncrease HRoIncrease of blood supply to the muscles oDilating airways in lungs etc. Hormonal
Stimuli In response to hormones by other endocrine organs (tropic hormone)E.g. Thyroid
Stimulating Hormone (TSH) from the anterior pituitary stimulates thyroid gland to secrete T3 &
T4Hormones that stimulate other endocrine tissue to secrete hormones are called tropic
hormonesNegative vs. Positive FeedbackNegative oMost common oThe mechanism adjusts
hormone levels or cell activity in the opposite directionto the stimulus.oi.e. if stimulus is an increase
in “Y” in the blood, if that substance increases in the blood that will stimulate a change in other cells
and the outcome will be an affect to decrease “Y” in the blood oWhile blood levels rise of Y response
is to decrease level of Y – counteracting each otherPositive oNot as common oThe mechanism
adjusts levels or activity in the same direction as the stimulusoi.e. if the stimulus is an increase in “Y”
The outcome will be to affect change to increase “Y” furtherHormones using a negative feedback
loopoHormone “X” has an effect on cell process which ultimately decreases the amount of “Y” in the
blood.oAs concentration of Y increases this directly feedbacks to Gland B which in turn increases the
secretion of Hormone X which reduces the levels of Y. oA rising level of Y triggers the response to
reduce levels of Y PAGE 11

Gland B secretes hormone X, hormone X has an effect on the concentration of substance Y in the
bloodAs concentration of Y increases in the blood it will feedback to gland B directly, and gland B
starts to secrete hormone X and X’s job is to lower the concentration of Y As hormone X is being
secreted into the blood, it is going to lower the concertation ofY in the bloodY levels get lower and
lower it is monitored by gland B and when the levels get low enough gland B will no longer be
triggered to secrete hormone XHormone X levels will then start to decrease, and because they are
decreasing the levelof Y in the blood starts to increase againThe increasing levels of Y will trigger
the response to decrease the level of Y Pancreas – Humoral stimulus and negative feedback loop
Uses humoral stimuli, directly monitors blood glucose levelsThe cells in the pancreas will
constantly be monitoring the levels of glucose in the bloodWhen the levels of glucose in the blood
rise, the pancreas will start secreting the hormone insulin – which lowers the bloods glucose and
does this by telling the body to use more glucose PAGE 12