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nervous system.
Stimulus: a stimulus is a detectable change in the internal or external environment.
Response: A reaction of an organism to a specific stimulus.
Receptors: Receptors are specialized tips of the nerve fibres that collect the information to be conducted by the nerves.
They are usually present in the sense organs. For e.g. Gustatory receptors help us to detect taste and olfactory receptors
help us to detect smell.
Reflex action: It is an involuntary and nearly instantaneous response to a stimulus.
Nerve Impulse: The information passing through a neuron in the form of electrical and chemical signals is known as a
Nerve Impulse.
How is information conducted through neurons?
The information is acquired at the end of dendritic tip of the neuron that are present in the sense organs / receptors.
This sets of a chemical reaction in the at the dendrites generating an electrical impulse.The electrical impulse then
travels from the dendritic tip to cyton and then to the axon of that neuron. When it reaches the nerve endings certain
chemicals are released in response to the electrical impulse. These chemicals cross the gap or synapse and start a
similar electrical impulse in a dendrite of the next neuron. A similar synapse finally allows the delivery of
such impulse from neurons to other cells such as muscles or glands.
What is reflex action? Explain with an example. Define reflex arc.
A. It is an accurate, unconscious, involuntary and instantaneous response to a stimulus. e.g.:
Hand is withdrawn when it accidentally touches a hot object.
The pathway taken by a stimulus to travel from receptor organ to effector organ is known as reflex arc.
Schematic pathway:
STIMULUS RECEPTOR ORGAN (sensory neuron) SPINAL CORD (motor neuron) EFFECTOR
ORGAN RESPONSE
Advantages of Reflex Action: 1) enables the body to give quick responses to harmful stimuli, thus protecting the body. 2)
Minimises overloading of brain. 3) Efficient way of functioning in the absence of true thought processes.
Types of nerves: A nerve is formed by the union of several nerve fibres. Nerve fibres are axons and they are enveloped
by a covering made of lipid. Based on the property of nerve fibres, the nerves are classified into several types.
Sensory Nerve: it is formed by the union of sensory nerve fibres. It carries sensory impulses from the receptors to brain
or spinal cord.
Motor Nerve: It is formed by the union of motor nerve fibres.It carries motor impulses from brain or spinal cord to
different parts of the body.
Involuntary activities like breathing and beating of the heart take place by the coordinated efforts of the
medulla oblongata and autonomous nervous system.
Parts of Brain
Has sensory areas, motor areas and areas of association. Centre of consciousness,
thought, imagination, memory,analytical thinking. Awareness of vision, hearing,
smell, taste, touch, heat etc. Control of voluntary actions.
Hypothalamus Maintains homeostasis by regulating the body temperature, water level etc.
Centre of thirst, hunger etc. Controls the secretion of pituitary hormones. Helps to
maintain the normal constitution of blood.
They
contain the endings of the olfactory nerves (the first pair of cranial nerves)
O
and are concerned with the sense of smell.
l
Cerebrum
Forebrain
f
a
c
t
o
r
y
Lobes
Midbrain
Hindbrain
Acts as the coordinating centre between forebrain and hindbrain; also controls certain involuntary
movements
Responsible for precision and fine control of voluntary movements as well as
Cerebellum
maintaining posture and equilibrium of the body
Pons
Functions as the centre through which impulses travel to and from the
cerebellum, spinal cord and other parts of the brain. Also regulates respiration
Medulla
oblongata
Coordination in Plants:
Plants lack nervous and muscular system.
Plants respond to stimuli by showing 2 types of movements - growth independent and growth dependent.
Growth independent movements are usually quicker than growth dependent ones, and involve the use of
electrochemical signals by the plant. To achieve this movement, the plant cells change shape by altering their water
content.Eg. drooping of leaves of a touch-me-not plant when it is touched. Q-What happens when the leaves of a
touch-me-not plant are touched?
A-When the leaves of a touch-me-not plant are touched, the plant uses electrical-chemical means to convey this
information from cell to cell. Plant cells at the leaf base change their shape by changing the amount of water in them.
This results in folding and drooping of leaves.
Growth dependent movements or tropic movements are slow, occurring either towards or away from the stimulus. The
movement of plants in the direction of stimulus is known as 'tropism'. Tropic movements are shown in response to
environmental factors such as light, gravity, water and chemicals. Plant roots are positively geotropic and negatively
phototropic whereas plant shoots are usually negatively geotropic and positively phototropic. Pollen tubes show
chemotropism by growing towards the ovules.
Conduction of Information by electro-chemical means in Plants and Animals
In Plants
In Animals
No specialised tissue for conduction of information
Specialised tissue for conduction of information
Cells change their shape by changing the amount of Cells change their shape due to the presence of
water in them
specialised proteins
Movements due to growth:
1. Growth of tendrils: When a tendril comes in contact with a support, then the part of the tendril away from the
support grows more rapidly than the part of the tendril that is in contact with the object, thus the tendril circles
around the object and appears to cling to it.
2. Phototropism: Directional movement of a plant/plant part in response to light, for example: shoots show
positive phototropism.
3. Geotropism: Directional movement of a plant/plant part in response to gravity, for example: roots show
positive geotropism.
4. Chemotropism: Directional movement of a plant/plant part in response to chemicals, for example- growth of
the pollen tube towards the ovule.
5. Hydrotropism: Movement of a part of a plant in response to water, for example: roots
Plant hormones or phytohormones: These are chemical substances produced naturally by plants; they are capable of
being translocated and regulate one or more physiological processes when present in low concentrations.
Hormone
Function
Auxins
Ethylene
Gibberellins
Cytokinins
Abscisic Acid
The
y are
relea
sed
in
How is the movement of the leaves of the sensitive plant different from the movement of a shoot towards light?
Leaves of the sensitive plant move very quickly in response to touch. There is no growth involved in this movement. The
directional movement of shoot towards light is slow and is caused by growth. If it is prevented from growth, it will not
show the movement. In the movement of the leaves of sensitive plant, the stimulus is touch. In phototropism, the
stimulus is light. Also, in sensitive plant, the movement is caused by the sudden loss of water from the swellings at the
base of leaves. In phototropism the bending is caused by unequal growth on two sides of the shoot.
Hormones in Animals:
The hormones in animals are produced by the endocrine glands, and they too play an important role in control and
coordination.
Hormones are chemical substances that control and coordinate activities of living organisms and also their growth. The
term hormone was introduced by Bayliss and Starling. Animal hormones do not bring about directional growth
depending on environmental cues, but promote controlled growth in various areas to maintain the body design. The
various endocrine glands in humans are hypothalamus, pineal gland, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands,
thymus, pancreas, adrenal glands, ovary (in female) and testis (in males).
Features and functions of hormones:
1
.
They are secreted by the endocrine glands and are called 'chemical messengers'.
They are poured directly into blood stream as endocrine glands have no ducts of their own (ductless glands).
They usually have their effect at sites different from the sites where they are made. They act on specific areas called target organs.
Hormones coordinate body activities and growth They are
released in minute quantities.
2
.
3
.
4.
5.
Hormone
Endocrine Gland
Growth Hormone
Thyroxin
Pituitary
Thyroid Gland
Adrenaline
Adrenal gland
Insulin
Testosterone
Pancreas
Testis
Oestrogen
Ovary
Function
Regulates growth and development of body
Controls carbohydrate, protein and fat
metabolism
Prepares the body to deal with emergency
situations
Regulates blood sugar levels
Causes development of sexual organs and
secondary sexual characteristics in males
Causes development of sexual organs and
secondary sexual characteristics in females
Endocrine system
Chemical compounds
Slow
All cells of the body
Can act steadily and persistently