HKDSE BIOLOGY: Connecting Concepts

Revision notes

17 Coordination in humans

17.1 Coordination and the nervous system

1. In humans, coordination is carried out by two body systems:
the nervous system and the endocrine system.

2. The human nervous system can be divided into two parts:

• the central nervous system (CNS), which consists of the brain and
the spinal cord.
• the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which consists of cranial
nerves and spinal nerves.

17.2 Neurones as the basic units of the nervous system

3. A neurone consists of a cell body and nerve fibres (dendrons and
axons).

4. Neurones are adapted for transmitting nerve impulses:

Feature Adaptation
A neurone has long nerve • To transmit nerve impulses over a long
fibres distance
A dendron has many branches • To receive information from other
(called dendrites) neurones so that each neurone can
communicate with many others
Most nerve fibres are • To protect the nerve fibres
surrounded by a myelin
• To insulate the nerve fibres and
sheath
prevent loss of nerve impulses to the
surroundings
• To speed up the transmission of nerve
impulses

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HKDSE BIOLOGY: Connecting Concepts Revision notes

5. There are three types of neurones:

Transmission of
Type of neurone Characteristics
nerve impulses
Sensory neurone From receptors to the • Long dendron;
CNS short axon
• Cell body lying outside
the CNS
Motor neurone From the CNS to • Very short dendrons;
effectors long axon
(muscles and glands)
• Cell body lying inside the
CNS
Interneurone Within the CNS • Short dendrons;
short axons
• Cell body lying inside the
CNS

6. A nerve is made up of bundles of nerve fibres wrapped in tough

connective tissue.

nerve

connective
tissue

nerve fibre

myelin sheath
blood vessels

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HKDSE BIOLOGY: Connecting Concepts Revision notes

7. A synapse is the junction between two neurones. Transmission of

information from one neurone to another is by means of
neurotransmitters:

 A nerve impulse arrives,

stimulating the synaptic mitochondrion
knob.


Neurotransmitters
are released from
the synaptic vesicle.
synaptic knob

Neurotransmitters
synaptic vesicle
diffuse across the
synaptic cleft.


Neurotransmitters synaptic cleft
bind to receptor
sites on the
dendron of the
dendron.
next neurone

The dendron is
stimulated to generate
a nerve impulse.

Key: transmission of nerve impulse

8. Synapses are important in the following ways:

• They ensure that nerve impulses are passed on in one direction

only, i.e. from the axon of one neurone to the dendron of the next
neurone.
• They allow one neurone to communicate with many other
neurones to achieve complex coordination.

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HKDSE BIOLOGY: Connecting Concepts Revision notes

17.3 The central nervous system

9. The CNS is protected by bones, three meninges and the
cerebrospinal fluid.

10. The brain is protected by the cranium and the spinal cord is
protected by the vertebral column.

11. The cerebrospinal fluid fills the space between the inner and middle
meninges, the internal cavities of the brain and the central canal of
the spinal cord. It serves:

• as a shock absorber.
• to offer mechanical support to the brain and the spinal cord.
• to supply oxygen and nutrients to the neurones and remove
wastes from them.

12. The brain consists of three main parts:

Part of the brain Structural characteristics Functions
Cerebrum • Highly folded surface • Site of consciousness
• Outer grey matter; • Controls voluntary
inner white matter actions
Cerebellum • Highly folded surface • Coordinates
contractions of skeletal
• Outer grey matter;
muscles
inner white matter
• Maintains body posture
and balance
Medulla • Relatively smooth • Controls involuntary
oblongata surface actions
• Outer white matter; • Serves as the reflex
inner grey matter centre for many reflex
actions in the head

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HKDSE BIOLOGY: Connecting Concepts Revision notes

13. The cerebral cortex can be divided into three functional areas:

• The sensory areas receive nerve impulses from sensory receptors

and interpret them to produce sensations.
• The association areas integrate information from different sensory
areas, make decisions and send nerve impulses to the motor areas.
• The motor areas generate and send nerve impulses to effectors to
produce voluntary responses.

14. The spinal cord runs from the medulla oblongata down through
the vertebral column.

15. The outer region of the spinal cord is made up of white matter and
the inner H-shaped region is made up of grey matter:

grey matter interneurone dorsal root

dorsal root ganglion
(contains cell bodies
of sensory neurones)
nerve fibres
sensory neurone

central from receptors

canal to effectors

spinal nerve

white
matter
motor neurone ventral root

Key :
transmission of nerve impulses

16. The spinal cord transmits nerve impulses between the brain and
other parts of the body. It also serves as the reflex centre for reflex
actions involving the trunk and the limbs.
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HKDSE BIOLOGY: Connecting Concepts Revision notes

17.4 Reflex actions and voluntary actions

17. A reflex action is a rapid automatic response to a stimulus that
allows the body to respond quickly and can protect us from
danger. It is involuntary (not under the control of the cerebrum),
stereotyped and usually inborn.

18. A reflex arc is the nervous pathway for a reflex action. It consists of a
receptor, a sensory neurone, an interneurone (may be absent), a
motor neurone and an effector.

19. Voluntary actions are under conscious control of the cerebrum.

They can take place without stimulation of receptors.

17.5 The endocrine system

20. The endocrine system is responsible for hormonal coordination. It
consists of endocrine glands which secrete hormones directly into
the bloodstream.

21. Hormones are chemical messengers. They are very specific and will
only act on target organs. They are effective in very low
concentrations, but can have widespread and long-lasting effects.

17.6 Comparison between nervous coordination and hormonal

coordination
22. Both the nervous system and the endocrine system coordinate body
activities by transmitting messages to effectors to produce responses.
Nevertheless, there are differences between nervous coordination and
hormonal coordination (see the table on p.17-7).

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HKDSE BIOLOGY: Connecting Concepts Revision notes

Nervous coordination Hormonal coordination

System Nervous system Endocrine system,
involved circulatory system
Components of Brain, spinal cord, nerves, Endocrine glands, blood
the system neurones
Nature of Electrical (nerve impulses) Chemical (hormones)
message and chemical
(neurotransmitters)
Route of Along nerve fibres and Bloodstream
transmission across synapses
Speed of Faster Slower
transmission
Responses Voluntary actions, reflex Growth and development,
coordinated actions and other reproduction, regulation of
involuntary actions the internal environment
Speed of Usually faster Usually slower
response
Duration of Short-term Usually longer-lasting
response
Area affected Localized (restricted to Widespread (one hormone
the effectors with nerve may affect several widely
supply) separated target organs at
the same time)
Significance Coping with sudden Synchronizing different
stimuli or emergencies parts of the body to bring
about overall responses for
sustaining long-term
survival

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