Brain

A nervous system of receptors, nerves and effectors allows an animal to

respond to basic stimuli from the environment.
However, large complex animals need more than this.
Mammals, including humans, have a central nervous system (CNS), which
includes:

THE BRAIN THE SPINAL CORD

in which information can be which carries the nerve fibres
processed and from which into and out of the brain and
instructions can be issued as also coordinates many
required to give fully coordinated unconscious reflex actions
responses to a range of situations
THE FORMATION OF THE BRAIN
In vertebrates (including humans) the brain forms as a swelling (a
larger area in the hollow neural tube at the anterior (front) end of
a vertebrate embryo that folds back on itself.
The basic brain pattern has three distinct areas:

1. forebrain
2. midbrain
3. hindbrain
In some vertebrates, the brain remains simple with areas specific to
particular functions such as sight or smell.
In mammals including humans, the brain becomes an extremely
complex structure.
The original arrangement of the brain into three areas is very difficult
to see, because a part called the cerebrum (made up of the two
cerebral hemispheres) is folded back over the entire brain.
The brain is made up of a combination
of grey matter (neurone cell bodies)
and white matter (nerve fibres).
Some areas of the human brain have
very specific functions concerned with
the major senses and control of basic
bodily functions.
There are also many regions of the
brain for which we still do not clearly
understand the precise functions and
interrelationships with other areas of
the brain.
Scientists have estimated that there are around 100000 million
neurones working together in the human brain
each neurone synapses with up to 10000 other neurones.
The brain contains centres or nuclei made up of cell bodies that make
intercommunication between millions of cells possible.
The great nerve tracts from the spinal cord cross over as they enter
and leave the brain, so that the left-hand side of the brain receives
information from and controls the right-hand side of the body, and
vice versa.
SOME OF THE MAJOR AREAS OF THE BRAIN
The two cerebral hemispheres are the site of many of the higher
functions of the brain.
They are the biggest and most highly developed area of the human
brain: about 65-67% of the mass of brain tissue.
Our abilities to see, think, learn and feel emotions are focused here.
The cerebral hemispheres also control our motor functions (all our
conscious movements).
CEREBRAL CORTEX:
The outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres is known as the cerebral
cortex.
This layer is only 2-4 mm thick, but it is made up almost entirely of grey
matter.
The cerebral cortex is also deeply folded to give a huge surface area.
CORPUS CALLOSUM
The left and right cerebral hemispheres are connected by a band of
axons (white matter) known as the corpus callosum.
The hemispheres are subdivided into a number of lobes (rounded parts)
that are associated with particular functions
For example, the frontal lobe is associated with the higher brain
functions such as emotional responses, planning ahead, reasoning and
decision making.
There are a number of other areas of the brain that we know are linked
to specific aspects of the way the body works.
Many of these are involved in the unconscious responses which maintain
the processes of life
OTHER REGIONS OF THE BRAIN
Inside the brain are other structures that have important
functions.
• The hypothalamus coordinates the autonomic (unconscious)
nervous system
It plays a major part in thermoregulation (the regulation of the
core temperature of the body) and osmoregulation (the
regulation of the osmotic potential of the body fluids)
It monitors the chemistry of the blood and controls the
hormone secretions of the pituitary gland.
It also controls many basic drives, including thirst, hunger,
aggression and reproductive behaviour.
The cerebellum coordinates smooth movements.
It uses information from the muscles and the ears to control
balance and maintain posture.
The medulla oblongata (medulla) is the most primitive part of
the brain.
It contains reflex centres that control functions such as the
breathing rate, heart rate, blood pressure, coughing. sneezing,
swallowing, saliva production and peristalsis.
It is this region that may maintain the basic life responses, even
when the higher areas of the brain have been destroyed.
THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE SPINAL CORD
To coordinate the functions of the body, the brain needs a way of
communicating with the body and this is one of the major functions of
the spinal cord.
The spinal cord is a tube made up of a core of grey matter surrounded
by white matter, which runs out from the base of the brain (the
medulla oblongata) through the vertebrae.
It is approximately 43-45 cm long.
Impulses from sensory receptors travel along sensory nerve fibres
into the spinal cord through the dorsal roots, and then travel in
sensory fibres up the spinal cord to the brain.
Instructions from the brain travel as impulses down motor fibres in the
spinal cord and out in motor neurones through the ventral roots to the
effector organs (see fig C).
The spinal cord is also an important coordination centre.
Many simple organisms have little CNS and certainly no complex
brain.
Their actions take place without conscious thought, as a result of
refex responses.
Many of the actions of more complex animals are also the result
of unconscious reflex actions.
Well-known examples of human reflexes include:
• moving a hand or foot rapidly away from something hot or
sharp
• swallowing as food moves to the back of the throat
• blinking if an object approaches the eyes
• contracting and dilating of the pupils in response to changing
light levels.
SPINAL AND CRANIAL REFLEXES
The simplest type of nerve pathway in the body, known as a reflex arc,
controls these unconditioned reflexes.
In vertebrates, including mammals, this involves a minimum of a
receptor, a motor neurone and a sensory neurone.
Part of the pathway occurs in the CNS, often in the spinal cord.
The reflex arc may simply involve a sensory and motor neurone.
But there is often a small third relay neurone situated in the CNS.
The function of the reflex arc is to cause an appropriate
response to a particular stimulus as rapidly as possible
without the time delay that occurs if the conscious centres
become involved.
There are two main types of reflex:
the spinal reflex (eg. hand withdrawing from heat or sharp
object) and
the cranial reflex (eg. blinking, pupil reflexes).
Both involve parts of the CNS.
However, sensory neurones also transfer information to the
conscious areas of the brain, so you know what has happened.
SPINAL REFLEX
• A stimulus is received by a sensory receptor; for example, heat receptors in the
skin or pain receptors.
• An impulse travels up the sensory neurone through the dorsal root ganglion
into the grey matter of the spinal cord.
It synapses with a relay neurone which then synapses with a motor neurone
within the grey matter.
• The impulse passes along the motor neurone, leaving the spinal cord through
the ventral root. It then travels to an effector organ, which is often a muscle.
• The motor end plate in the muscle transfers the stimulus to the muscle which
then contracts, moving the body part away from danger.
CRANIAL REFLEXES
An example of a cranial reflex is the control of the amount of light
that enters the eye (see Section 8A.5).
The iris is a muscular diaphragm with a hole (the pupil) in the
middle.
Pigments in the iris absorb light, making sure that the only way
light can enter the eye is through the pupil.
The amount of light that gets into your eyes is controlled by the size of
the pupil.
The iris has both circular and radial muscles that work antagonistically.
In bright light,
the circular muscle is contracted
the radial muscles are relaxed
the pupil is reduced to a narrow aperture (small hole).
This reduces the amount of light that enters the eye to avoid damage to
the delicate rods and cones by overstimulating them.
In low light levels,
the circular muscles relax
the radial muscles contract,
opening the pupil wide so as much light as possible falls on the
rods to maximise your ability to see.
The muscles of the iris control the size of the pupil through the
iris reflex.
This involves the of the autonomic nervous system and the brain
in a cranial nerves cranial reflex.
The muscles act as effectors and they respond in a reflex action
to the levels of light which enter the eye through the pupil and
fali on the retina.
In this way, the system constantly adapts to changes in light
level (see fig D).
The basic principle of the pupil reflex involves the following stages.
• Light may enter one or both eyes at the same time and the effect on the pupils
is the same.
• Light falling on the sensory cells of the retina causes impulses to travel along
neurones in the optic nerve to the brain.
The brighter the light, the bigger the frequency of action potentials.
• The impulse is detected in a control centre in the midbrain.
• The impulse then travels along two neurones to further control centres.
• In the control centres the nerve impulses synapse with branches of the
parasympathetic cranial nerve (the oculomotor) which transmits impulses to the
iris.
• These impulses stimulate the effectors (the muscles of the iris).
• The circular muscles contract and the radial muscles relax so the pupil
constricts.
If the frequency of action potentials from the retina falls (when light levels
drop), impulses travel from the control centres along sympathetic nerves to
the iris, causing the circular muscles to relax and the radial muscles to contract
and so the pupil becomes wider.
This negative feedback system controls the amount of light entering the eye
(see fig E).
The reflex response of either eye controls the dilation or constriction of the
pupils of both eyes, so a bright light which is shone into one eye only will
cause the pupils of both eyes to constrict
The pupils respond to emotional cues as well as light.
So, for example, the release of the stress hormone adrenaline
causes the pupils to become wider, which makes sure you can
use all the available light to see as well as possible.
Pupils also dilate if you see someone you like and
constrict if you see someone you don't like.
For nervous coordination to work there are two important
stages:
• first,
changes in the internal or external environment are
detected by sensory receptors and are carried to the CNS
• second,
the instructions from the CNS must be carried to the
effector organs.
This is the role of the peripheral nervous system.
THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
The peripheral nerves are divided into
two systems, which you have already
met.
1) The sensory nerves carry impulses
from the receptors about changes in both
the external and internal environment
into the CNS.
2) The motor nerves carry impulses out
from the CNS to the effectors in the body.
All the sensory nerves of the peripheral
system function in much the same way.
The motor nerves are of two main types.
1) voluntary nervous system
2) The autonomic nervous system

voluntary nervous system

The voluntary nervous system involves motor neurones that are
under voluntary or conscious control involving the cerebrum.
Voluntary motor neurones function as a result of conscious
thought.
When you consider an action, such as picking up a drink or
switching on the computer, the instructions that need to be
issued to the muscles will be carried along voluntary nerve
fibres.
 autonomic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system (the involuntary nervous system)

involves motor neurones that the conscious areas of the brain do
not control.
These motor neurones control bodily functions that are normally
involuntary.
Examples include control of the heart and breathing rate, the
movements and secretions of the gut,
sweating, the dilation or constriction of the iris of the eye in
response to changing light levels and the dilation or constriction
of the blood vessels in response to changing demands for blood.
 Nervous system

Central nervous system Peripheral nervous system

Brain Spinal cord motor sensory

involuntary voluntary

sympethatic Para-sympethatic
The autonomic nervous system is sub-divided into
1) the sympathetic nervous system
2) the parasympathetic nervous system.

Most of the body organs have connections with both the

parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system.
The differences between them are both anatomical and functional.

STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PARASYMPATHETIC

AND SYMPATHETIC SYSTEMS
Both the parasympathetic and the sympathetic autonomic nervous
systems have myelinated preganglionic fibres that leave the CNS
and synapse in a ganglion (a collection of cell bodies outside the
central nervous system) with unmyelinated postganglionic fibres.
In the sympathetic system, the ganglia are very close to the
CNS, so the
preganglionic fibres are short
postganglionic fibres are long

In the parasympathetic system the situation is reversed.

The ganglia are near to or in the effector organ, so the
preganglionic fibres are very long
postganglionic fibres are very short.
FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PARASYMPATHETIC AND
SYMPATHETIC AUTONOMICNERVOUS SYSTEMS
There are two basic differences between these two autonomic nervous
systems.
 The sympathetic nervous system produces noradrenaline at the synapses
and usually produces a rapid response in the target organ system.
This sympathetic autonomic nervous system is sometimes referred to as the
'fight-or-flight' system.
When you are active, or under physical or psychological stress, the
sympathetic nervous system will dominate, stimulating the organs of the
body to cope with the stress you experience.
 The parasympathetic nervous system often has a slower, calming or
inhibitory effect on organ systems and it produces the
neurotransmitter acetylcholine at the synapses.
The parasympathetic system maintains normal functioning of the body
and restores calm after a stressful situation.
It is sometimes referred to as the 'rest and digest' or 'feed and breed'
system, in contrast to the action of the sympathetic system.
The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems act
antagonistically,
rather like the accelerator and brake of a car.
For example,
the sympathetic system speeds up the breathing rate and the heart rate,
whereas
the parasympathetic slows them down (see table A).
However, as with the accelerator and brake, it is often not a case of all or
nothing.
The way each of these complementary systems affects the other allows for
fine control.
This allows the body to match its responses exactly to the demands it
meets.
Several bodily functions which we might consider to be under voluntary control (for
example, opening the bowel and bladder sphincters) appear in table A as under the
control of the autonomic system.
However, the nervous system is very complex and many areas of the body are supplied
with voluntary nerves as well as involuntary nerves.
Most of us have control over our bladder and bowels and can control our breathing
rate if we want to.
It is relatively easy even to control the heart rate to some degree, as well as other
normally involuntary activities.
Scientists still do not understand all of the ways in which the voluntary and autonomic
nervous systems and the CNS interact to control both our body functions and our
behaviour.
COMPARING MECHANISMS OF COORDINATION
In Chapter 7C, you looked at hormones and their role in coordination and control in
animals.
Chemical coordination is important in many different situations in a mammal, from
aspects of growth and sexual maturity to stress responses and the control of blood
sugar levels.
However, animals also have nervous systems. How do they compare?

Chemical control
Chemical control is often relatively slow but it can be very long lasting.
Hormones travel around the body of an animal in the plasma of the blood as it moves
around the circulatory system.
They move into the target cells by diffusion and attach to receptors on cell
membranes.
Chemical control is often linked to changes which involve growth of an organism.
It allows for long-term responses to environmental changes.
However, it can also be used for rapid day-to-day responses such as the control of
blood sugar levels and is well suited to delicate control mechanisms such as negative
feedback systems.
 Nervous control
Nervous control is usually very rapid, making it an ideal form of
internal communication and control for organisms that move
their whole bodies about.
If you need to respond quickly to environmental cues, nerve
impulses give you the speed you need
Q. 1 ) Differenciate between sympathetic and
parasympathetic Nervous system?

Q. 2) Describe the following

1. Corpus callosum
2. Cerebral cortex
3. Cerebral hemisphere

Q. 3 ) What is the function of the following:

4. Hypothalamus
5. Cerebellum
6. Medulla Oblongata

Q. 4 ) What is the difference between white

matter and grey matter?

Q. 5 ) Describe cranial reflex of iris muscles in

bright light.
There are several hundred million nerve cells working together in the human
brain.
The great nerve tracts from the spinal cord cross over as they enter and leave
the brain, so that the left-hand side of the brain receives information from
and controls the right-hand side of the body, and vice versa.
The cerebral cortex is only about 3mm thick, but it controls most of the
functions that make us what we are.
The brain contains centres (called nuclei) formed of cell bodies which may
have hundreds of synapses, making intercommunication between thousands
and indeed millions of cells possible.
The bones of the skull hide and protect the brain.
This makes it very difficult for scientists to discover how it
works.
It also makes it hard to find out what goes wrong in the
case of diseases that affect the brain.
You will look at some of the ways in which scientists use
technology to investigate the brain and see how this affects
the way we understand and treat diseases.
STUDYING HUMAN BRAINS
We cannot carry out experiments directly on human brains to find out how they work.
The nearest kind of research to this is when brain surgery patients have allowed their
brains to be artificially stimulated.
Brain surgery is often completed under local anaesthetic because there are no sensory
nerve endings in the brain.
The conscious patients describe the sensations relating to the stimulation, and this has
shown that certain areas of the brain are associated with very particular functions.
Most of our information about the functions of the human brain
comes from situations in which parts of the brain are damaged or
missing at birth or as a result of illness or injury.
There are some famous examples of such situations.
In 1848, Phineas Gage was a foreman on a US railway construction company.
He was likeable, reliable, hardworking and very responsible.
In an explosives accident, an iron bar passed through his head.
It didn't kill him, but it destroyed much of the front part of the left-hand side of
his brain.
Gage could still walk, talk and continue what seemed to be a normal life, but his
personality changed dramatically.
He became impatient, irresponsiblé, rude and unpleasant.
He lost his job and died 12 years later:
Researchers have used computer graphics along with images of the injury and
the skull to show that the bar destroyed much of the connection between the
left-side frontal lobes and the midbrain (see fig A).
As a result, Phineas Gage lost the ability to control his emotional behaviour:
Diseases that affect the brain can cause terrible problems for the people affected, but
they can also help scientists understand how the healthy brain works.
In some cases, they can also indicate possible treatments.
Dr Oliver Sacks, a clinical neurologist, has described a number of unusual cases, such as
a man who mistook his wife for a hat.
This man had a disease affecting the visual areas of the brain.
He could see and describe things but he had lost the ability to make the normal
connections between what he saw and what the object was.
Another patient had a massive stroke (a bleed into the brain) which affected
the deeper and back portions of her cerebral hemispheres.
Her personality and ability to talk were not affected but she completely lost
the concept of the left-hand side, both of her own body and of the world
around her.
She would eat only the right-hand portion of her food and applied make-up
only to the right-hand side of her face.
These patients show clearly the location of function and awareness in the
different sides of the brain.
MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY
The development of medical imaging technology has had a huge effect on
our ability to investigate the development of the brain and to link
structures to functions.
It has also made it possible to understand the progress of many brain
diseases and how they affect the people who have them.
CT SCANS
X-rays can be used to take very effective images of hard tissue such as bones.
They are much less useful for producing images of soft tissues such as the brain.
The development of computed tomography (CT) scans has allowed scientists and
doctors to see inside the brain.
A CT scan involves thousands of tiny beams of X-rays which are passed through an
area of the body such as the head.
Each beam is reduced in strength by the density of the tissue it passes through.
The X-rays which pass through the tissue are detected and measured.
A computer system puts together all the data to produce a cross-sectional image of
a thin slice through the body.
Sometimes special dyes are injected into the blood or tissues which stop X-rays
from passing, so they show up more clearly in the scan.
A CT scan can identify major structures in the brain and detect problems such as
brain tumours, bleeding in the brain or swellings of the arteries in the brain
(aneurysms).
It does not detect very fine structural details.
The images are like photographs; they are images frozen in time.
CT scans cannot be used to show how areas of the brain are used or change
during different activities.
However, we can use evidence from CT scan images linked to changes in
behaviour to understand the importance of certain areas of the brain in particular
functions (see fig B)
MRI AND fMRI SCANS
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans produce images that show much finer
detail than CT scans (see fig C).
They are produced using magnetic fields and radio waves to image the soft
tissues.
This removes even the small risk of damage from the X-rays used in CT scans.
Hydrogen atoms are the most commonly imaged element, partly because so
much of the body is made of water (every molecule of water contains two
hydrogen atoms), and partly because hydrogen atoms produce a particularly
strong MRI signal.
A computer system analyses the signals that are produced and produces an
image.
Different tissues respond differently to the magnetic field from the radio waves.
The way they respond depends on many factors.
including the amount of water in the structure.
As a result, we can recognise distinct regions of the brain in the image.
The thin sections of the body that are usually examined produce two-dimensional
(2D) MRI scans.
However, the computer can put these slices together to produce a three-dimensional
(3D) image.
MRI produces very detailed images which give doctors a great deal of
information about the living brain.
Doctors use it to diagnose brain injuries, strokes, tumours and infections of the
brain or the spine.
By showing up areas of damage in the brain very clearly, it has enabled doctors
and scientists to make links between the structures in the brain and patterns of
behaviour seen in their patients.
However, MRI scans give a historical image of the brain, like CT scans, but they
don't show it while it is working.
A more recent development in technology, functional magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) scans, make it possible to watch the different areas of the brain
in action while people perform different tasks.
The basis of fMRI scanning is monitoring the absorption of oxygen in different
brain areas.
Deoxyhaemoglobin absorbs the radio-wave signal and later re-emits it.
whereas oxyhemoglobin does not.
The blood flow to an area of the brain which is active increases and more
oxyhemoglobin is delivered to supply the active cells with the oxygen they need
for aerobic respiration.
Less of the signal is absorbed as a result, so an active area of the brain absorbs
(and so emits) less energy than a less active area.
We can observe this in real time because different areas of the brain 'light up'
on the images as they become active (see fig D).
The number of fMRI images which can be recorded each second is constantly
increasing.
Therefore, as technology improves, scientists are able to observe more precisely the
changes in brain activity while different tasks are performed.
It is possible to generate an extremely spatially accurate image of the brain using fMRI.
At the moment, we use it mainly to investigate normal brain structure and function.
For example, we can see clear differences in the activity of the brains of people with
dyslexia when they are reading compared with the brains of non-dyslexic readers.
However, increasingly researchers are looking at ways of using MRI to diagnose diseases
such as the early signs of stroke damage and the beginning of Alzheimer's.
However, there are some disadvantages with MRI.
 Like MRI, it is a noisy procedure which some people find very stressful.
 Patients must keep their head completely still because any movement
reduces the accuracy of the image.
This mainly limits what we can test although increasingly scientists are finding
ways to allow movement in other body areas.
For example, in one investigation scientists studied the brains of dancers as
they moved their feet as if dancing to music.
The areas which lit up were strongly linked to the speech areas of the brain.
Some neurophysiologists have questioned the validity of fMRI scans.
They argue that the blood flow to different areas of the brain when a
subject is looking at different stimuli is a case of correlation, not causation.
Scientists must do more research to confirm whether or not it is a causal link.
For now, the majority of scientists in this field are convinced that the areas
which are highlighted by this imaging technique really are the active regions
of the brain involved in an activity.
PET SCANS
Positive emission tomography (PET) scans give scientists and doctors
another way of forming detailed, 3D images of the inside of the body,
including the brain.
PET scans reveal abnormal areas in the body and can also show how well
different areas are working.
PET scans can be combined with CT scans and MRI scans to produce very
detailed images to help with diagnosis.
The great advantage of PET scans is that they can show
how parts of your brain are actually working.
They can be used to plan surgery by giving surgeons a 3D
image of the areas of the brain that are affected
To produce a PET scan, the patient is injected with a
radiotracer (radioactive isotope) which is similar to glucose.
This means the body treats it in a similar way and it is carried to
all the cells.
The scanner works by detecting the radiation which the radiotracer
gives off and
the computer system analyses where it accumulates and where it
does not.
So, for example, cancer cells absorb much more of the radiotracer
than normal cells, so a PET scan shows cancerous cells clearly.
Areas of the brain that are less active than they should be (for
example, areas that have died as a result of diseases such as
Alzheimer's, which causes dementia) absorb less of the radiotracer
than expected.
You can see the difference between a PET scan of a healthy brain
and one affected by dementia in fig E
Communication between the neurones around your body and in your brain
depends on a delicate balance of naturally occurring chemicals.
The brain uses a number of different neurotransmitters, some of which only
occur in brain synapses (e.g. dopamine, serotonin).
An imbalance in these transmitters can result in
both mental and physical symptoms.
Treating diseases which are caused by such imbalances means transferring
drugs across the blood-brain barrier.
This barrier is formed by the endothelial cells that line the
capillaries of the brain
For and these are very tightly joined together.
This makes it difficult for bacteria to cross into the brain and cause
infections, which is a good thing.
However, the blood-brain barrier also makes it difficult for
therapeutic drugs to enter the brain.
Drugs that do affect the brain are usually active at the synapses
and there are a number of stages in synaptic transmission at which
they can be targeted (see fig A).
PARKINSON'S DISEASE
Parkinson's disease involves the loss of nerve cells in an area of the
midbrain known as the substantia nigra.
In a healthy brain, these cells produce the neurotransmitter dopamine,
and the axons from them spread through the frontal cortex, the brain stem
and the spinal cord.
So they are closely involved in the control and coordination of movement.
In Parkinson's disease, these dopamine-producing cells die and motor
control is gradually lost.
For a long time, the brain compensates for the loss.
Most people don't show symptoms of the disease until around 80% of
their dopamine-producing cells have disappeared.
Parkinson's disease usually develops in people over 50 years old, although
it can appear in younger people.
The causes are still not clear.
In young-onset Parkinson's disease, which is very rare, there appears to
be a relatively strong genetic link.
However, in the most common form of Parkinson's disease, the genetic
link is much weaker and other factors are also involved.
Environmental factors may play a part and there may be a link with a number of
toxins, herbicides and pesticides.
Parkinson's disease affects around 7-10 million people in the world.
The ways individuals react to the falling levels of dopamine in Parkinson's disease vary.
Common symptoms include the following
• Tremor (shaking) which usually begins in just one hand. This is the first
symptom for around 70% of affected people.
• Slowness of movements. It is hard to start to make a movement, and
movements take longer to perform.
• Stiffness (rigidity) of the muscles.
This can make it difficult to turn over in bed or stand up after sitting in a chair.
Other problems that appear as the disease progresses may include poor balance,
difficulty in walking, problems with sleeping, depression and even
difficulties with speech and breathing
TREATING THE SYMPTOMS
At the moment, there is no cure for Parkinson's disease.
However, there are a number of drugs which can be very effective at easing or
delaying the symptoms.
Most of them aim either to replace the natural dopamine in the brain or to
allow the body to make the best use of the dopamine it still produces.
Treatment drugs include the following
• Levodopa (L-dopa) is a precursor to dopamine; it can cross the blood-
brain barrier whereas dopamine cannot.
L-dopa has been used to treat Parkinson's since the 1960s.
Supplying the brain with L-dopa allows the remaining cells to make as much
dopamine as possible.
This can greatly reduce stiffness and slowness of movements. Eventually, the
drug becomes less effective as brain cells continue to die.
Dopamine agonists are chemicals that bind to dopamine receptors
in brain synapses and thereby mimic the effect of dopamine.
They are often used at the beginning of the disease when they are most
effective, so L-dopa can be used later.
Monoamine oxidase B (MAOB) inhibitors inhibit the enzyme
monoamine oxidase B (MAOB) which breaks down dopamine in brain
synapses.
Thus, MAOB inhibitors reduce the destruction of the dopamine made by
the cells.
DEPRESSION
Everyone gets a low mood or feels sad from time to time, and people often say
they are feeling 'a bit depressed'.
However, this is not clinical depression, which is a serious illness that affects
many people during their lives.
The causes of depression are complex and we do not fully understand them.
However, one cause may be problems with the neurotransmitter serotonin in
the brain.
Serotonin is the synaptic transmitter in a group of cells in the brain stem that
have an extensive influence.
They have axons that spread throughout the brain into the cortex, the
cerebellum and the spinal cord.
Low levels of serotonin result in fewer nerve impulses travelling around the
brain.
This prevents the brain working effectively.
Research has shown that the serotonin pathways are often abnormal in people
suffering from depression.
Sometimes, depression is triggered by external factors such as work or
relationship stress, or the death of a friend or family member
In some cases, depression seems to be simply the result of chemical changes in
the brain.
Serotonin is not the only neurotransmitter implicated in depression.
Dopamine and noradrenalin may also play a role in the condition for some
people.
TREATING DEPRESSION
Treatment for depression includes the use of drugs and 'talking therapies'
(which can help a patient accept adverse life events).
Many of the drugs used for depression are linked to the serotonin synapse
systems and other neurotransmitters.
Some of the best-known antidepressant drugs are the SSRIs (selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors).
 These drugs inhibit the reuptake proteins in the presynaptic membrane.
 As a result, more serotonin remains in the - synaptic cleft,
 more impulses travel along the post-synaptic axon and
 this reduces symptoms
 by producing a more positive mood
 and improving the ability to sleep.
Other treatments also involve neurotransmitters.
 Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) work by increasing the levels of
serotonin and noradrenalin in the brain, and
 monoamine oxidase inhibitors (like the MAOB inhibitors used in
treating Parkinson's disease) inhibit the enzymes which usually
cause the breakdown of neurotransmitters in the synapses of the
brain.
ILLEGAL DRUGS AND THE BRAIN
Drugs such as L-dopa and SSRIs can have a clear and measurable effect on the way
the brain works.
These drugs are therapeutic and legal.
Other drugs are enjoyable and legal, such as the caffeine from coffee, tea, cola or
energy drinks.
Caffeine crosses the blood-brain barrier and affects the brain in a number of ways
which include slowing down the rate of dopamine reabsorption at dopamine
synapses.
But there are some drugs which are used specifically because they have an impact
on the way the brain works.
These drugs are often illegal.
One which is widely used is ecstasy (MDMA: 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-
methylamphetamine).
Ecstasy has a marked effect on the brain. It acts as a stimulant, increasing the
heart rate (similar to amphetamine), and also as a psychotropic drug which
alters the way a person 'sees' the world.
The short-term effects of the drug are to change mood and make people feel
sociable, full of energy, warm and empathetic. The drug causes these changes
by affecting the serotonin synapses of the brain.
Serotonin also has a major effect on the way the brain works. As you have just
learned, depression seems to be the result of too little serotonin in some way.
Ecstasy blocks the serotonin reuptake transport system so that the synapses are
completely flooded with serótonin, which cannot be returned to the
presynaptic knob.
There is also some evidence that the drug makes the transport system work in reverse, so
that all of the serotonin in the presynaptic knob is moved out into the synapse which
affects the post-synaptic membrane and floods the brain with impulses.
Ecstasy may also affect the dopamine systems, with the high levels of serotonin stimulating
the release of more dopamine adding to the 'pleasure sensation',
but there is some debate among scientists about whether this is really the case.
Using ecstasy causes physical changes, such as increased heart rate, and can
cause problems in the body's thermoregulatory system.
There may be no desire to drink, which can lead to hyperthermia (overheating)
with raised blood pressure and irregular heartbeat.
In a small number of cases, this can lead to death.
Ecstasy can also affect the hypothalamus so that it secretes more antidiuretic
hormone, which is normally secreted when the body needs to conserve water.
This effectively stops the kidneys from producing urine and can lead to problems
if someone keeps drinking water in an attempt to stay hydrated and cool down.
They retain so much water that osmosis destroys their cells.
As you have learned, specific chemicals released by cells in response to a
stimulus can act as messages.
In animals, these chemicals may be hormones, or neurotransmitters in
synapses in the nervous system.
Plants also rely on chemical messages for communication between
different parts of the plant.
This makes it possible for them to respond to factors such as light and
gravity (see fig A).
The chemicals move from cell to cell, and also through the plant transport
system. They act as plant hormones.
WHICH STIMULI AFFECT PLANTS?
Although most plant movements are very slow, plants respond to
a variety of stimuli, most of which are cues from the external
environmental that have a direct impact on the well-being of the
plant.
Plants respond to the
 presence or absence of light
 direction from which light comes,
 the intensity of the light
 length of daily exposure to light.
Light affects how much plants grow, the direction in which they grow and
when they reproduce.
Plants are also sensitive to gravity, water and temperature, and in some
cases to touch and chemicals.
Different parts of the same plant may react differently to the same stimulus.
For example, shoots grow towards light but roots grow away from it.
As well as responding to external stimuli, plants also respond to internal
chemical signals.
Most of the responses of plants are concerned with maximising the
opportunities for photosynthesis and reproduction.
PLANT RESPONSES
Chemical control in plants is given by a number of different chemicals
produced in response to specific stimuli.
Many of these chemicals act as plant growth regulators, but they do
more than simply control the growth of plants.
The chemicals which control growth and development in plants are
called plant hormones.
They are produced in one area of the plant, are transported around
the body of the plant and have their effect on cells in another area.
Some of their effects involve growth, but many do not.
Animals respond to nervous and chemical messages in a variety of
ways that include the release of further chemicals, the contraction of
muscle cells, and growth.
Plants also respond to chemical messages in a number of different
ways.
In some cases. growth is stimulated and in others it is inhibited.
For example, sometimes one side of a plant grows more than the
other in response to a particular stimulus, resulting in the bending of
the shoots or roots
These directional growth responses to specific environmental cues
are known as tropisms.
Other plant hormones affect the differentiation and development of
plant cells and processes, such as the ripening of fruit and leaf fall.
HOW PLANTS GROW
Growth is a permanent increase in the size of an organism or of some part
of it.
It is brought about by cell division and the assimilation of new material
within the cells that result from the division, followed by cell expansion (see
fig B).
The main areas of cell division in plants are known as the meristems and
they occur just behind the tip of a root or shoot.
The regions of cell division and cell elongation are particularly sensitive to
plant growth substances.
These chemical messages act in a number of ways.
Some affect cell division, increasing the number of divisions that occur.
Others make it easier for the cellulose walls to be stretched, and this
makes it easier for the cells to expand and grow.
AUXINS
Auxins, for example indoleacetic acid (IAA), are powerful growth stimulants that
are effective in very low concentrations.
Auxins are produced in young shoots and always move down the plant from the
shoots to the roots.
This movement involves some active transport and calcium ions.
Auxins are involved in apical dominance, by suppressing the growth of lateral
shoots so that the main stem grows fastest.
In low concentrations, they promote root growth.
The more auxin that is transported down the stem, the more roots grow.
If the tips of the stems are removed, removing the source of auxins, the
stimulation of root growth is removed and root growth slows and stops.
Auxins are also involved in the tropic responses of plant shoots to
unilateral light (light from one side).
The response of a plant to auxins often depends on both
• the concentration of the hormone and
• the region of the plant.
HOW DO AUXINS WORK IN A PLANT?
Auxins affect the ability of the plant cell walls to stretch.
For example, IAA is made in the tip of the shoot and diffuses back towards
the zone of elongation.
The molecules of IAA bind to specific receptor sites on the cell surface
membranes, activating the active pumping of hydrogen ions into the cell
wall spaces.
This changes the hydrogen ion concentration, providing the optimum pH of
around 5 for enzymes that break bonds between neighbouring cellulose
microfibrils.
This allows the microfibrils to slide past each other very easily, so the walls
stay very plastic and flexible.
The cells absorb water by osmosis and, as a result of turgor pressure, the
very flexible cell walls stretch allowing the cells to elongate and expand.
Eventually, as the cells mature, the AA is destroyed by enzymes, the pH of
the cell walls rises, the enzymes are inhibited and bonds form between the
cellulose microfibrils.
Consequently, the cell wall becomes more rigid again and the cell can no
longer expand (see fig C).
This basic model of the way plants grow was based on shoots which were kept
entirely in the dark or in full light.
However, in real life, plants are usually in a situation where the light on one side
is stronger than the other:
Research shows that the side of a shoot exposed to light contains less auxin
than the side that is not.
Light seems to cause the auxin to move laterally across the shoot, producing a
greater concentration on the unlit side.
This movement means the shoot tip acts as a photoreceptor.
More of the hormone diffuses down to the region of cell elongation on the
darker side.
This stimulates cell elongation, and therefore growth, on the
darker side.
Consequently, the shoot bends towards the light.
Once the shoot is growing directly towards the light, there is no
longer a light side and a dark side.
The asymmetric transport of auxin finishes and the shoot grows
straight towards the light.
The original theory was that light destroyed the auxin.
However, more recent evidence suggests that
the levels of auxin in shoots are much the same, whether they
have been kept in the dark or under light from one side.
Although scientific work on tropisms began over a century ago, by
Charles Darwin and his son Francis, there is still much to learn.
GIBBERELLINS AND SEED GERMINATION
Auxins do not act alone to control and coordinate plant responses.
There are a number of other classes of plant hormones that have different
effects on plant cells.
They work individually and also interact to give extremely sensitive responses
to a constantly changing environment.
Gibberellins are another important group of plant hormones.
These compounds act in several ways, including as growth regulators.
They affect the internodes of stems,
stimulating elongation of the growing cells.
They also promote the growth of fruit.
They are involved in breaking dormancy (inactive period) in seeds and in
germination, because they stimulate the formation of enzymes in seeds
(see fig D).
For example, they stimulate the production of amylase, which breaks down
starch stores in cereal plants.
This makes glucose available for respiration in the embryo plant as it
develops during germination.
Gibberellins also stimulate bolting, a period of sudden rapid growth and
flowering, in biennial plants.
SYNERGY AND ANTAGONISM
Most plant hormones do not work in isolation, they interact with other
substances.
This adaptation means that plants can have a very fine control over their
responses.
The growth regulators interact in one of two ways.
synergy
If they work together, complementing each other and giving a greater
response than the simple addition of their two responses, the interaction
is known as synergy.
For example, auxins and gibberellins work synergistically in the growth of
stems.
antagonistic.
If the hormones have opposite effects they are known as antagonistic.
Plants need light. Without light, the metabolism of a plant is severely
disrupted and no chlorophyll is formed. Chlorophyll is needed for
photosynthesis to occur
If a plant is deprived of light for a long time it will die.
Day length (or night length) is the environmental cue that controls
changes such as bud development, flowering, fruit ripening and leaf
fall.
Plants have evolved very sensitive mechanisms for detecting light, and
many aspects of plant development are controlled by the levels and type
of light available.
 SENSORY SYSTEMS IN PLANTS

Scientists have known for a long time that the seeds of many plants will
germinate only if they are exposed, even very briefly, to light.
Researchers in the US Department of Agriculture showed that red light
(wavelength 620-700 nm) is the most effective at stimulating germination in
lettuce seeds, and
far red light (wavelength 700-800 m) inhibits germination.
If you expose seeds to a flash of red light they will germinate.
If you expose them to a flash of red light followed by a flash of far red light, they
will not germinate.
With any series of flashes of light. it is the colour of the final flash that
determines whether or not the seeds will germinate.
Scientists hypothesised the existence of a plant pigment that reacts with different
types of light, and then affects the responses of the plant, so acting as part of the
system that controls photomorphogenesis
In 1960, this pigment was isolated from plants and called phytochrome
 PHYTOCHROMES

Plants make a number of different phytochromes, but they all respond

to light in the same way.
A phytochrome is a blue-green pigment that exists in two
interconvertible forms
Pr, (or P 660) absorbs red light
Pfr (or P730) absorbs far red light (see fig A).
The absorption of light by one form of the pigment converts it
reversibly into the other form.
This can explain the germination of seedlings noted above:
a flash of red light produces biologically active Pfr
which triggers germination.
But then a flash of far red light converts Pfr, back to the inactive Pr,
before it has any effect.
As a seedling germinates, it makes Pr.
As soon as it breaks through the surface of the soil and is exposed to red
light, some of the new pigment is converted into Pfr.
From that point onwards the two interconvertible forms exist in the plant.
The length of time it takes for one form of the pigment to be converted into the
other depends on the light intensity.
In low light intensity, it takes minutes;
in high light intensity, it takes seconds.
In the dark. Pfr, is converted to Pr, very slowly but no Pr, is converted back.

Pr, is the more stable form of the pigment, but it is the Pfr, that is biologically
active.
The balance between the two forms of phytochrome is affected by varying
periods of light and dark
That then affects the plant metabolism, including flowering parterns.
Sunlight contains more red light than far red light, so
during daylight hours most of the phytochrome in a plant is in the far red
form, Pfr.
If the night period is long enough, all the phytochrome is converted back into
the red form, Pr
Phytochromes enable plants to respond to environmental cues such as
change in day length.
In some cases, phytochromes have a stimulating effect on growth in plants,
in others they inhibit growth.
Exactly how phytochromes influence the responses of the plant is still
not fully understood, but as you will see in Section 8B.7, the evidence
increasingly suggests that
the presence of phytochromes stimulates the production of other
growth regulators and plant hormones, resulting in the response to
light.
 DEVELOPING IDEAS ABOUT PHOTOPERIODISM
In temperate regions of the world such as the UK, the period of daylight
can vary from about 9 to 15 hours throughout the year.
The lengths of the days and nights give important environmental cues to
living organisms, directing their growth, development and behaviour.
The amount of time that an organism is exposed to light during a 24-
hour period is known as the photoperiod.
In plants, one of the most clearly affected activities is flowering, and
scientists have developed models of how plants sense and respond to
day-length cues.
Scientists found that day length appeared to be the environmental cue affecting
flowering in many plants.
short-day plants (SDPs)
Plants flowering when days are short and nights are long became known as short-
day plants (SDPs).
SDPs include rice and cotton.
long-day plants (LDPs)
Plants flowering in relatively long days and short nights are known as long-day
plants (LDPs), and these include oats and cabbages.
It can be very difficult to decide whether a plant is a short- or long-day plant
as the two groups merge.
Some plants, such as cucumbers, tomatoes and pea plants, are unaffected
by the length of the day and are known as day-neutral plants
(DNPs).
These are usually plants that grow naturally in tropical regions where the
day length is the same all year round.
As a result, they are adapted to use different cues, such as the amount of
available water, as the triggers for flowering
Different flowering patterns allow plants to take advantage of different
circumstances.
In temperate regions,
SDPs tend to flower in spring and autumn, when the light-shading canopy of
leaves either has not developed or has fallen off.
They also grow well near the equator, where the days are never longer than
about 12 hours.
LDPs flower in the summer in temperate regions and are found further from
the equator in areas in which in some seasons there are very long days
Scientists eventually discovered that the length of the period of
darkness is actually the environmental cue affecting flowering, not day
length.
It was demonstrated that if an SDP has the long night (period of
darkness) interrupted by flashes of light, they do not flower.
HOW IS THE SIGNAL RECEIVED?
All the research on photoperiolism indicates the involvement of the
phytochromes in the sensitivity of the flowering pattern of plants to the
photoperiod.
The changes in flowering patterns that can be caused by disturbing the dark
periods can also be effected by red or far red light alone.
Red light inhibits the flowering of SDPs,
but
if the red light is followed by far red light, the inhibition is removed
It is the balance of the Pr, and Pfr that is key.
The current hypothesis is that, in SDPs,
the biologically active molecule Pfr inhibits flowering,
and a lack of Pfr allows flowering to occur.
During long periods of darkness, the levels of Pfr fall, as it is almost all
converted to Pr.
This allows flowering to take place.
In LDPs,
the situation is reversed, and it appears that high levels of fr stimulate flowering.
The nights are short so relatively little Pfr is converted back to Pr
As a result, relatively high Pfr, levels are maintained all the time, stimulating
flowering
DNPs evolved in tropical conditions in which the levels of Pr and Pfr are
similar all year round, so even in temperate regions they do not
respond to changes in day length by flowering.
Other factors trigger their flowering.
Scientists know that phytochromes are only part of the story and
control of flowering is very complex, but this provides a useful model
to work with
The detection of the photoperiod seems to occur in the leaves of the plant.
In the 1930s, scientists first hypothesised the presence of a plant hormone
known as florigen.
They thought that plants produced florigen in response to the changing levels
of phytochromes and the plant transport system carried it to the flower buds.
The evidence included the following findings.

 If the whole plant is kept in the dark, apart from one leaf which is exposed
to the appropriate periods of light and dark, flowering occurs as normal.
A plant kept in total darkness does not flower (see fig B, experiment A).
 Using the same experimental set-up, if the photoperiodically
exposed leaf is removed immediately after the stimulus, the plant
does not flower. If the leaf is left in place for a few hours, it does
flower.
 If two or more plants are grafted together and only one is
exposed to appropriate light patterns, all the plants will flower
(see fig B, experiment B).
 In some species, if a light-stimulated leaf from one plant is grafted
onto another plant, the new plant will flower.
For years no one could isolate the theoretical hormone and so the
florigen theory lost support
However, recently scientists have shown that,
when a leaf is exposed to a given amount of light and dark, a
particular form of mRNA is produced in the leaf, linked with a gene
associated with flowering (the FT gene or Flowering Locus T). It is
known as FTmRNA.
It was thought that a large molecule like FTmRNA could not be florigen,
as it would not be able to leave the cell.
Now scientists have shown that FImRNA can move from cell to cell to
the transport tissues through the plasmodesmata.
They have also shown that FTmRNA travels from the leaves in which it is
formed to the apex of the shoot, where other genes associated with
flowering are activated.
So at the moment, it looks as though FTmRNA is the chemical known as
florigen.
The whole shape and form of a plant is dependent on its need for light.
What part do phytochromes play in this process?
Plants that are grown in the dark or are heavily shaded by other plants
become etiolated.
This means they grow rapidly, using up food reserves in an attempt to
reach the light.
As a result, the plants become tall and thin, with fragile, pale stems, long
internodes (the stem between the leaf nodes), and small, pale, yellowish
leaves because no chlorophyll is formed (see fig A).
Etiolation seems to be a survival mechanism.
All of the resources of the plant go into growing up towards the light
needed for photosynthesis.
Once the plant reaches the light, growth slows and the leaves turn. green
as chlorophyll forms.
This is similar to the changes that take place as a seed germinates and
grows.
Almost all seeds germinate under the ground, so the early stages of
growth occur in the dark and are etiolated.
The changes that occur after a plant becomes etiolated, and the reverse of
etiolation when germinating seedlings break through the soil, appear to be
controlled by phytochrome.
 GERMINATION AND THE CHANGE IN PLANTS

Phytochrome is synthesised as Pr.

A seedling that emerges from a seed underground only contains Pr,
because it has not been exposed to light.
The early seedling that emerges from the seed has a cotyledon or a
hooked apical shoot and shows typical characteristics of etiolation
(see fig A).
These include:
• rapid stem lengthening but very little thickening; the seedling grows as tall
as possible and as fast as possible to reach the light
• relatively little root growth, just enough to act as an anchor and obtain
water
• no leaf growth; the leaves are small and folded, so no energy is wasted
producing leaf tissue that is useless underground
• no chlorophyll; the seedling is white or pale yellow, so no energy is wasted
producing chlorophyll that is useless in the dark.
Once the tip of the new shoot breaks through the soil surface into the light, a
series of changes takes place:
• the elongation of the stem slows down
• the stem straightens
• the cotyledons and/or first leaves open
• chlorophyll forms and the seedling begins to photosynthesise.
The changes that occur the moment the germinating seedling is exposed to light are
controlled by phytochrome interconversion.
In the seed, there is plenty of Pr, but no Pfr.
Without Pfr the internodes grow but the leaves do not and no chlorophyll forms.
Once the plant is exposed to light, Pr is rapidly converted to Pfr which accumulates
quickly:
Pfr inhibits the lengthening of the internodes so internode growth slows.
it stimulates leaf development and the production of chlorophyll.
The leaves open and the seeding becomes green and begins to photosynthesise.
These changes start even before the seedling breaks through the surface of the
soil because a little light penetrates through the surface of the soil and begins
the transformation.
As a result, the chloroplasts are maturing and the seedling is often green and
ready to photosynthesise the moment it emerges through the soil.
PHYTOCHROMES AND TROPISMS

Until recently, scientists thought that the changes in plants controlled by

phytochrome and the responses of plants to light controlled by auxins and other
hormones were quite separate processes.
However, research increasingly shows a link between phytochrome and both
phototropisms (plant movements in response to one-sided light) and geotropisms
(plant movements in response to an asymmetrical pull of gravity).
For example, it appears that phototropisms cannot occur in very young shoots until
phytochrome has been activated, and that geotropisms are also dependent on
phytochrome actions.
PHYTOCHROME AS A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR
Scientists are only just beginning to understand how phytochrome can change so many
things, from triggering flowering to the production of chlorophyll and the growth of
the stem.
More and more evidence suggests that Pfr acts as a transcription factor, which is
involved in switching genes on and off in plant cell nuclei.
.Researchers have produced recombinant DNA linking the genes for the production of
phytochrome to a gene for the production of green fluorescent protein (GFP), originally
from jellyfish.
By inserting these hybrid genes into plant cells, the scientists produced plants with
fluorescent phytochrome.
If scientists kept seedlings in the dark, the fluorescence linked to the inactive Pr was
detected evenly through the cytoplasm of the cells.
If they exposed the seedlings to red light, this labelled Pr, was converted to labelled
Pfr and the scientists observed that the fluorescence moved into the nucleus of the
cells.
Further, in the nucleus the fluorescent Pr appeared as specks linked to the
chromosomes.
Here is the current model for the way in which phytochrome works
• When Pr is converted into Pfr in the presence of light it moves into the nucleus
through the pores in the nuclear membrane
• In the nucleus, it binds to a nuclear protein known as the phytochrome-
interacting factor 3 (PIF3).
• PIF3 is a known transcription factor.
• PIF3 only binds to Pfr. It does not bind to Pr.
• PIF3 only activates gene transcription and the formation of mRNA if it is
bound to Pfr-
The hypothesis is that by binding to PIF3, Pfr activates different genes and
thus controls different aspects of growth and development in plants.
Scientists need to continue this research until we fully understand how
phytochrome has its effect, but our models for the control and coordination of
plants are becoming more sophisticated and more integrated all the time.