stimulus receptors effectors Efficient

Communication
Sensory organs glands muscles system needed

nerves Coordination
Response
How to send? ( is way in which receptors
hormones pick up stimuli and then
(Chemicals) pass the information to
effectors )

Voluntary action Involuntary action

Type of sensory receptor Where are they located What type of stimulus is detected by the receptor

Photoreceptors Retina of the eye Rods detect low intensity light

Cones detect red, green and blue light

Chemoreceptors Nose Many different odorants

Tongue Tastes

Mechanoreceptors Skin Touch, pressure, hair movement

Muscles Stretching of muscles

Sonoreceptors Ear Sound

Thermoreceptors Skin Hot or cold temperatures

Osmoreceptors Hypothalamus of the Brain Solute concentration of Body fluids

Baroreceptors Walls of blood vessels Blood Pressure

What is the function of a Head?

Sensory receptors are widely distributed all over the body, but there are particularly high concentrations of them in the
sense organs : eye, nose, ear and tongue – All of these organs are located in the head

Discuss the reasons for the main sense organs being located in the head.

Suggest disadvantages of sense organs being located elsewhere in the body.

nerves — bundles of interconnected neurons thatElectrical Control of Behavior: The Nervous Syste
work in synchrony to carry messages.
central nervous system (CNS), made up of the
brain and spinal cord, is the major controller of the
body’s functions, charged with interpreting sensory
information and responding to it with various actions
The CNS interprets information coming in from the
senses, formulates an appropriate reaction, and sends
responses to the appropriate system to respond
accordingly. Everything that we see, hear, smell,
touch, and taste is conveyed to us from our sensory
organs as neural impulses, and each of the commands
that the brain sends to the body, both consciously and
unconsciously, travels through this system as well.
The spinal cord is the long, thin, tubular bundle of
nerves and supporting cells that extends down
from the brain. It is the central throughway of
information for the body. Within the spinal cord the
sensory neurons relay information to the brain and
then the motor neurons relay motor commands
back to the body. The PNS links the CNS to the body’s sense
When a quicker-than-usual response is required, receptors, muscles, and glands.
the spinal cord can do its own processing,
The peripheral nervous system is itself divided into
two subsystems, one controlling internal responses
and one controlling external responses.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the

division of the PNS that governs the internal
activities of the human body, including heart rate,
breathing, digestion, salivation, perspiration,
urination, and sexual arousal. Many of the actions
of the ANS, such as heart rate and digestion, are
automatic and out of our conscious control, but
others, such as breathing and sexual activity, can
be controlled and influenced by conscious
processes.
The somatic nervous system (SNS) is the
division of the PNS that controls the external
aspects of the body, including the skeletal
muscles, skin, and sense organs. The somatic
nervous system consists primarily of motor nerves
responsible for sending brain signals for muscle
contraction
The autonomic nervous system itself can be
further subdivided into
the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

The sympathetic division of the ANS is involved

in preparing the body in response to stress, by
activating the organs and the glands in the
endocrine system.

The parasympathetic division of the ANS tends

to calm the body by slowing the heart and
breathing and by allowing the body to recover
from the activities that the sympathetic system
causes.

The sympathetic and the parasympathetic

divisions normally function in opposition to each
other, with the sympathetic division acting a bit
like the accelerator pedal on a car and the
parasympathetic division acting like the brake.
 Neuron is another name for a nerve
cell. Your body has between 80 billion
and 90 billion of them. Neurons
transmit signals in the form of
electrical impulses.

Nerves are differentiated according to their function. A sensory (or afferent) neuron carries
information from the sensory receptors, whereas a motor (or efferent) neuron transmits
information to the muscles and glands. An interneuron or relay neuron, is located primarily
within the CNS and is responsible for communicating among the neurons. Interneurons allow
the brain to combine the multiple sources of available information to create a coherent picture
of the sensory information being conveyed.
A Human Motor Neuron
Gaps in the myelin sheath

Pick up electrical signals

from other neurons.
These signals are called
nerve impulses

Fat and protein layer

called myelin. This
insulates the nerve
fibres, so they can carry
Longest fibre of cytoplasm stretching impulses faster
out from the cell body. This enables
them to carry messages quickly
The axons of some neurons are coated with a myelin sheath, which is an insulating layer that speeds up the transmission of
a nerve impulse. These are myelinated neurons.

This fatty layer is composed of compacted layers of the Schwann cell membrane, which is mostly lipid, but also contains
several proteins. These play important roles in maintaining the structure and compaction of the myelin and adhesion of the
sheath to the axon.

There is a gap between the adjacent Schwann cells, called the node of Ranvier.

A nerve signal or action potential propagated along a myelinated axon can move at speeds of up to 120 m/s, whereas in
the case of an axon which is not myelinated, the speed can be as slow as 1 m/s.

When we say a signal is propagated, we mean that it moves down the length of the axon towards the terminals.

The myelin sheath forces the nerve signal to jump from one node of Ranvier to the next, which accounts for the faster
speed of impulse transmission. This is called saltatory conduction of nerve impulses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3WUJ9XaZWc
Video – Types of Neurons and Synapses - FuseSchool
A reflex is an involuntary and nearly
instantaneous movement in response to a
stimulus. Reflexes are triggered when
sensory information is powerful enough to
reach a given threshold and the interneurons
in the spinal cord act to send a message
back through the motor neurons without
relaying the information to the brain. When
you touch a hot stove and immediately pull
your hand back, or when you fumble your
cell phone and instinctively reach to catch it
before it falls, reflexes in your spinal cord
order the appropriate responses before your
brain even knows what is happening.
Video – Reflec Arc - FuseSchool
 Synapses act like one-way
Synapse valves. The neurotransmitters
are only on one side of the
When an impulse arrives synapse, so the impulses can
along the axon of the only go across from that side
sensory neuron, it causes
the vesicles to move to the
cell membrane and empty
their contents i.e the
neurotransmitters into the Many vacuoles or
Synaptic cleft vesicles which
contain a
Neurotransmitters then neurotransmitter
diffuse across the tiny gap
and attach the receptor
molecules of the next
neuron

The binding of the Gap between

neurotransmitters with two Neurons
receptors triggers a nerve
impulse which sweeps along
the neuron until it reaches
next synapse
Our everyday activities are controlled by the interaction between the
sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. For example, when
we get out of bed in the morning, we would experience a sharp drop in
blood pressure if it were not for the action of the sympathetic system,
which automatically increases blood flow through the body. Similarly,
after we eat a big meal, the parasympathetic system automatically
sends more blood to the stomach and intestines, allowing us to
efficiently digest the food. And perhaps you have had the experience of
not being at all hungry before a stressful event, such as a sports game
or an exam (when the sympathetic division was primarily in action), but
suddenly finding yourself feeling starved afterward, as the
parasympathetic takes over. The two systems work together to
maintain vital bodily functions, resulting in homeostasis, the natural
balance in the body’s systems.
 Plan an Experiment to test the hypothesis –
Consuming drinks containing caffeine decreases
reaction time
• Uses Chemicals to transmit information

• Chemicals are hormones

• Made in endocrine glands

• Gland – a group of cells / organ which secrete particular

chemical substances for use in the body

• Endocrine glands do not have ducts and are called

ductless glands

• They make a hormone and secrete directly into the blood

• Once the hormone is in the blood it is dissolved in

plasms, carried to parts of the body which are particular
for that hormone called as a target organ

• Exocrine glands however have ducts. Ex. Salivary glands

secrete saliva in the salivary duct, mammary glands,
sweat glands
 • The blood vessels in the skin and digestive system
contract so they carry little blood . This makes us pale and
we get the ‘butterflies in stomach’ feeling

• It causes pupils to dilate, which allows more light into the

eye and helps us to see properly in the dark.

• It causes the liver to release glucose into the blood and in

turn muscles so they can get energy

• When we are frightened or excited the brain sends

impulses along a nerve to adrenal glands which makes
them secrete Adrenaline

• Adrenaline helps us to cope up with danger known as

the ‘ flight or fight’ response

• It makes heart beats faster supplying more O2 to the

brain and muscles, so we get the energy to either fight
or run away

• It increases breathing rate

Coordination and Response in Plants

• Plants respond to stimuli by changing their rate or direction of growth. They grow either towards or away from
the Stimulus

• Growth/Movement towards a stimulus is positive response and away from the stimulus is negative response

• A response by a plant is called Tropism

• Gravitropism / Geotropism – a response in which a plant grows towards or away from gravity

• Phototropism – a response in which a plant grows towards or away from the direction of the light

• Shoots grow towards light and away from gravity so that the leaves get enough sunlight and flowers can get
pollinated

• Roots grow downwards into the soil so that the plant stands firmly and roots can absorb nutrients

• Auxin is a plant hormone being made by the plant cells in the tip of a shoot. It diffuses downward from the tip
into the rest of the shoot. It makes the cells in the shoot grow faster.
Etiolation Pale, tall and thin plants.

Auxin is distributed evenly

but there are not enough
chloroplasts

The plants grow in darkness

and become pale yellow and
spindly. They have smaller
leaves

If exposed to light then they

start growing normally but if
not then they die as they
cannot photosynthesize
Weedkillers are used to kill weeds in gardens or lawns. They
contain plant hormones usually a synthetic form of Auxin
which is made in a factory example – 2,4 D
When they are spread on the lawns the weeds are affected
by the Auxins but the grass is not. The weeds respond by
growing fast and eventually die leaving more space and
nutrients for the grass to grow.
Farmers use similar weedkillers to kill weeds growing in
cereal crops like wheat, maize etc
Conjunctiva – it is It is sensitive to light
kept moist by a and contains receptor
fluid in tear glands cells
which contains
enzyme Lysozyme The receptor
that kills bacteria cells are packed
most closely
together.
The point where
light is focused
when you look at
Gel like fluids an object
which helps to
maintain the
shape of the Electrical impulses
eye and helps travel along the
in keeping the optic Nerve to the
eye healthy brain

No receptor cells are present at this spot

Behind the retina is a black layer called the choroid. It absorbs all the light
after it has been through the retina so it does not get scattered into the
eye. It is rich in blood vessels and nourish the eye.

Retina has two kinds of receptor cells –

Rod cells which are sensitive to quite dim light but not color
Cone cells are able to distinguish between different colors of light. They
can only function when the light is bright. We have three different kinds of
cones, sensitive to red, green and blue light

Rods therefore allow us to see in dim light but only in black and white,
while cones give us color vision
The iris contains muscles – circular
muscles lie in circles around the pupil and
Fovea contains almost entirely Iris is a circular piece of tissue which radial muscles run outwards from the
cones. When we look at an is the colored part of your eye. Iris edge of the pupil.
object, we use cones to produce has pigments which absorb light and When circular muscles contract, pupil
a sharp image in color. Rods are stop it getting through to the retina constricts or gets smaller and when radial
found further out on the retina muscles contract the pupil dilates or gets
and are less tightly packed. They Pupil is a gap, the size of which can larger
show us a less detailed image. be adjusted. In strong light, the iris This is called as Iris Reflex. This reflex
closes in and makes the pupil small, action is very important as it prevents
which stops too much light getting damage to the Retina caused by very
in and damaging the retina bright light
How an image is focused onto the Retina

Cornea does most of the

bending and then the lens
makes fine adjustments The image on
the retina is
upside down.
Brain interprets
this image so
that we see it
right way up

Light rays are bent or refracted

so the image can be focused
onto the retina
• Not all light rays need bending by the same amount

• Light rays coming from an object at a distance are almost

parallel to each other and hence do not need much bending. In
this case the ciliary muscles relax. This pulls the suspensory
ligaments which in turn pulls the lens making it thinner

• Light rays coming from a nearby object are diverging and hence
need to be bent inward strongly. In this case the ciliary muscles
are contracted, the suspensory ligaments are loosened and the
lens get thicker

The adjustment in the shape

of the lens to focus the light
coming from different
distances is called
Accommodation