COORDINATION IN HUMANS

19 March 2022 11:05

1. Nervous control in humans > The myelin-containing cell membrane

that wraps around a neuron is known
 The nervous system detects and
as the myelin sheath.
responds to external and internal stimuli.
> The myelin sheath insulates the
neuron and causes it to conduct
→ A stimulus is something that brings
impulses faster.
about a response or reaction.
> The outer membrane surrounding the
→ A receptor receives incoming
myelin sheath is called the
information about what is happening in
neurilemma and the spaces between
the outside environment and what is
Schwann cells are called nodes of
happening within the body.
Ranvier.
→ Co-oridantors, the brain and the spinal
chord, constantly receive information in
the form of nervous impulses from
receptors.
→ Effectors are the muscles and glands
that respond to nervous impulses from
the brain and the spinal chord.

1.2 The synapse

Nervous tissue  A synapse is defined as the
- Sensory neurons transmit impulses junction between two neurons, or
from receptor cells and organs to relay between a neuron and an effector.
neurons in the central nervous system ➢ Neurons do not touch one another
(CNS) to pass o nerve impulses.
- Relay neurons are found only in the ➢ There is a gap at the junction
brain and spinal chord, which make up between neurons, called synaptic
the CNS. cleft.
- Motor neurons transmit impulses from ➢ Synapses also occur between
relay neurons in the CNS to effectors neurons and effectors, for
(muscles or glands) in the body to bring example , muscles or glands.
about the required response. ➢ An electrical nervous impulse
passes from one neuron to the next
> A neuron consists of a cell body and via a chemical called
various fibres or processes. neurotransmitter. The
> The cell body contains a nucleus and neurotransmitter diffuses across the
various other organelles, such as a synaptic cleft between the neurons.
mitochondria, found in most animal cells.
> Dendrites in the neuron bring impulses
to the cell body, and axons take the
impulses aways from the cell body.
> A dendrite with a myelin sheath is called
a dendron.
> Some dendrites and axons in the
peripheral nervous system are
surrounded by Schwann cells, which
produces myelin in the cell membrane.

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Functioning of a synapse 1.3 Reflexes
• The synaptic knob contains many → Some actions that the human
mitochondria to supply energy for active body performs are voluntary
transport. and you can control them,
• In the synaptic knob, there are vesicles, however, other actions are
which contains neurotransmitters. involuntary and you cannot
• When a nervous impulse reaches the consciously control them.
synaptic knob, the vesicles move to the → A reflex is an involuntary,
presynaptic membrane and release the quick and immediate response
neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft. This to a stimulus.
process requires energy and is therefore
active transport. Reflex action
• The neurotransmitter moves across the → A reflex action is a means of
synaptic cleft and stimulates the generation integrating and coordinating
of a new electrical impulse in the dendrite of stimuli with responses of
the receiving neuron. effectors.
• Once the impulse has passed through the → It is an action that the body
synapse, the neurotransmitter must be performs as a result of
broken down or reabsorbed from the synapse receiving an external
so that it can be ready to receive the next environmental stimulus.
impulse as quickly as possible. → The stimulus is interpreted,
• There are many different types of integrated and coordinated, so
neurotransmitters in the human body. that the effectors respond
appropriately.

Reflex arc
The path that the impulse follows to
bring about a reflex action is called
a reflex arc.

Effects of alcohol on
neurotransmitters
• Alcohol is a drug that can be dangerous
because it is socially acceptable and legal.
• Alcohol increases the levels of some
neurotransmitters in the brain, for example,
serotonin and dopamine.
• Both the neurotransmitters give us a feeling
of happiness and pleasure.
• Long-term use of alcohol leads to alcohol
addiction or alcoholism.
• Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the
activities of the nervous system, as well as
the body functions, such as breathing and
the heart rate.

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1.4 Sensory organs
• Ciliary body: the thickened
 Sensory organs are groups of receptor
anterior part of the choroid that
cells that respond to specific stimuli.
contains the ciliary muscle. By
contracting and relaxing the
Structure and function of the eye ciliary muscle, the shape of the
 The eye is a spherical sensory organ that lens is changed. The ciliary
contains receptors that respond to the muscle is important in
stimulus of light. adjusting the eye lens for far
 The eyes are housed in two orbits in the and near vision.
skull, and the eyeball is held in position • Suspensory ligaments radiate
by six external eye muscles that control out from the edge of the lens
all eye movement. and attach to the ciliary body.
They aren't muscles and are
• Cornea: is the transparent fibrous relatively inelastic.
extension of the sclera (tough white outer • Yellow spot: a small
layer) at the front of the eye. The cornea depression in the retina's
allows light into the eye, and the curved centre in line with the lens,
surface causes some of the refraction of which is densely packed with
the light towards the retina. cones. When you look at an
• Iris: is the coloured extension of the object, the lens focuses the
choroid layer at the front of the eye. It is light rays from the object on
pigmented, giving the eye its colour and the yellow spot. This allows for
forming a circular muscular disc of clear and sharp vision.
circular and radial muscle fibres. The iris
contracts and relaxes the muscle fibres,
causing a change in the size of the pupil,
and so controls the amount of light
entering the eye through the pupil.
• Pupil: is the central opening in the iris
through which light enters the eye to
reach the retina. The iris muscles control
the size of the pupil.
• Lens: a transparent, biconvex structure
at the front of the eye, surrounded by an
elastic capsule. The shape of the lens
can be changed to focus the light
passing through it onto the retina and
can also refract light rays towards the
retina. It can adjust for near vision; this is
called accommodation.
• Retina: the light-sensitive inner layer of
the eye that consists of three layers of
cells: the photoreceptor layer, containing
photosensitive rods and cones; the
middle layer, containing bipolar neurons;
and the internal layer, containing
ganglion cells.
• The optic nerve transmits nerve impulses
from the retina to the brain's cerebrum,
mainly consisting of sensory neurons.
• Blind spot: the point where the optic
nerve leaves the eye. There are no rods
or cones, and the blind is not light-
sensitive. Blood vessels enter and exit
the eye at this point.

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Pupil reflex Accommodation
 The pupil reflex allows the right When looking at an object closer to
amount of light to enter the eye 6 m, the eye's lens needs to be
and fall on the retina for clear adjusted so that the image can be
vision. brought into focus.
 Too much light can damage the This reflex adjustment of the lens is
retina, so the pupil reflex also has called accommodation.
a protective function. The accommodation process
 The muscles in the iris control the involves changing the curvature of
size of the pupil. the lens by the action of the ciliary
 The iris consists of circular muscles.
muscles, which are structured in
a circular way around the pupil.
 The radial muscles in the iris
radiate from the middle to the
edge of the iris.
 The muscles in the iris are
antagonistic, as they do not
contract or relax simultaneously.
 When the circular muscles
contract, the radial muscles relax,
and vice versa.

 In dim light, the pupil enlarges to

allow more light to enter the eye
for clearer vision.
 The pupil enlarges when the
radial muscles contract, and the
circular muscles relax.
 When the light is bright, the pupil
becomes smaller to allow less
light to enter the eye to prevent FAR:
damage to the retina. • The eye is at rest
 To constrict the pupil, the radial • Light rays from the objects are parallel
muscles relax, and the circular and can be focused onto the retina
muscles contract, allowing less without any lens adjustments.
light in. • Ciliary muscles in the ciliary body are
relaxed, and the suspensory ligaments
are taut.
• Suspensory ligaments pull on the lens,
causing it to become less convex,
which decreases bending power
because it doesn’t need to bend the
light so much to focus it on the yellow
spot.

NEARBY:
• The lens must accommodate the focus
of the light rays on the retina because
the light rays from nearby objects are
diverging, and they have to be bent
more to fall on the yellow spot in the
retina.
• Ciliary muscles contract, and the
suspensory ligaments become slack.
• With nothing pulling on the lens, it
becomes more convex, which
increases its bending power.

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Vision
When you look at an object, light rays from
the object enter the eye.
The light falling on the retina stimulates two
types of light-sensitive receptor cells: rods
and cones.
The light rays cause chemical changes in the
rods and cones.
Rod cells are for low-light sight and black-
and-white vision.
Cone cells are used in bright light and for
colour vision.

The yellow spot on the retina contains a large

concentration of cone cells, and in normal
light and bright light, the light rays are all
focused on the yellow spot for a clear, crisp
and colourful image.
The rest of the retina contains large amounts
of rod cells but very few cone cells.

Light rays cause a chemical change in the

rod and cone cells and generate an electrical
impulse.
The impulse is transmitted via the optic nerve
to the occipital lobe in the brain's cerebrum.
The occipital lobe of the cerebrum is
responsible for processing the visual image.

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