5. Homeostasis and Response Flashcards
What are the two communication systems in the body?
The nervous system and the endocrine system
How does the nervous system communicate with parts of the body?
Electrical impulses along neurones
How does the endocrine system communicate with parts of the body?
Hormones (chemical messages) via the blood
What are the two parts that make up the nervous system?
The central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system
What is a stimulus?
A change in the environment which causes a response in the body
How many organs can detect stimuli?
5
What stimuli can ears detect?
Sound and balance
What stimuli can eyes detect?
Light
What stimuli can skin detect?
Temperature and pressure (pain)
What stimuli can the nose detect?
Chemicals
What stimuli can the tongue detect?
Chemicals
Receptors for sound and balance?
Cochlea
Receptors for light?
Rods and cones on retina
Receptors for temperature and pressure?
Mainly nerve endings on the skin
Receptors in the nose?
Olfactory receptors
Receptors on the tongue?
Found on taste buds
What is a sense organ?
Organ made up of a cluster of receptor cells, which are sensitive to specific stimuli
Describe the pathway of an electrical impulse in the nervous system
Stimulus - receptor- sensory neurone - coordinator (CNS) - motor neurone - effector - response
What are sensory neurones?
Cells that carry impulses from sense organs to CNS
What are motor neurones?
Cells that carry impulses to make effector organs respond
What is an effector?
A muscle or gland - muscles respond to arrival impulses by contracting
How do muscles respond to arrival impulses?
By contracting
What is the cerebral cortex concerned with?
Consciousness, intelligence, memory and language
What is the cerebellum concerned with?
Mainly coordinating muscular activity and balance
What is the medulla concerned with?
Unconscious activities e.g. Controlling heartbeat, breathing
What is the hypothalamus concerned with?
Controlling body temperature
What is the pituitary gland concerned with?
Produces many different hormones which play a big part in coordinating and controlling body systems
How can matching changes in behaviour with the damaged part of the brain help scientists?
They can map the function of some parts of the brain
How can electrical stimulation of the brain help scientists?
They cans stimulate parts of the brain and see what effects it has e.g. hunger, fear
How can MRI scans of brains help scientists?
So they can understand development. Can link a loss of a certain function with damage to a particular region of the brain
How do scientists map brain regions?
By studying patients with brain damage, electrically stimulating areas of the brain and using MRI scans
What are potential problems when treating brain complications?
Processes involve neurones and chemicals released in synapses which can easily be damaged
Drugs do not always reach brain
Surgery is difficult as its not fully understood what part of brain does what
What are reflexes for?
To protect the body from harm or control basic body functions
What extra neurone is used in reflex actions?
Relay neurone
How does caffeine affect reaction time?
It decreases reaction time
What happens when an electrical impulse arrives at the synaptic knob?
Vesicles containing neurotransmitters migrate to the nerve cell membrane
Where do vesicles release neurotransmitters?
Into the synaptic gap where they diffuse across to the next neurone and attach to their receptor sites
Where may synapses occur?
Between sensory and relay neurones, and between relay and motor neurones
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that diffuse between neurones and attach to receptor sites
What is the eye?
A sense organ containing many receptors that are sensitive to light intensity and colour
How are light sensitive cells arranged in the eye?
They are arranged together inside the back of the eye in a light-sensitive layer known as the retina
What is a blind spot?
The point where the optic nerve leaves the eye
What is the function of the cornea?
Changes direction of light rays entering the eye
Is the cornea transparent?
Yes
What is the function of the iris?
It is a muscle that controls the size of the pupil
What is the function of the lens?
A clear disk that fine-tunes, focuses light by changing shape
What is the function of the retina?
Converts light to electrical impulses
What is the function of the optic nerve?
Where impulses are sent from the brain to the retina
Why does the pupil constrict in bright light?
To reduce the amount of light entering the eye which could damage the retina
What is binocular vision?
Vision using two eyes, the range of vision overlaps
What is monocular vision?
Vision using one eye, the range of vision does not overlap
What is an advantage of binocular vision?
Judged distance and ability to see in 3D
What is a disadvantage of binocular vision?
Smaller field of view
What is an advantage of monocular vision?
Eyes on side of head so wider field of vision
What is a disadvantage of monocular vision?
Unable to judge distance, no 3D
What do the ciliary muscles and suspensory ligaments do?
Act together in the eye to pull or push on the lens
What happens when the lens in the eye is flatter?
Light is refracted more
What is myopia?
Short-sightedness
What is hyperopia?
Long-sightedness
What is short sightedness?
The inability to focus on distant objects
What is long sightedness?
The inability to focus on near objects
How can short sightedness be corrected?
Concave lens to refract light outwards before hitting the cornea so image focuses on retina
How can long sightedness be corrected?
Convex lens to refract light inwards so it lands on the retina
What does laser eye surgery do?
Changes the shape of the cornea, not the lens
What are replacement lenses?
Adding another lens inside the eye, permanent contact lenses, or removing faulty lenses and putting a new one on
Advantages of contact lenses?
Can’t be seen, good for sports
Disadvantages of contact lenses?
Can cause eye infections, expensive, need to be sterilised each night
Advantages of laser eye surgery?
The majority of people don’t need to wear glasses, can be used for long and short sightedness
Disadvantages of laser eye surgery?
Only available to adults when eyes stop growing
Advantages of replacement lenses?
Permanent corrections to visual impairment
Disadvantages of replacement lenses?
Damage to retina, cataracts, infection
How does the eye accommodate for a distant object?
Relaxed muscle, taut ligaments - longer, flatter, narrower lens
How does the eye accommodate for a near object?
Contracted muscle, slack ligaments - shorter, fatter lens
What is homeostasis?
The control of constant internal conditions
What parts of the body does homeostasis involve?
The nervous system, the endocrine system and many body organs
How are hormones transported to their target organ?
By the bloodstream
What to the nervous and endocrine systems work together to do?
Coordinate responses to changes in the external and internal environment
What does homeostasis involve the control of?
- water and ions
- temperature
- blood glucose levels
What hormones are produced at the pituitary gland?
- antidiuretic hormone, ADH
- thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH
- follicle stimulating hormone, FSH
- luteinising hormone, LH
- growth hormones
What is the pituitary gland also known as?
The master gland
Where is the pituitary gland?
The brain
What hormone is produced at the thyroid gland?
Thyroxin
What is thyroxin?
A hormone that helps regulate heart rate, metabolism and temperature
Where is the thyroid gland located?
The front of the neck
What hormone do the adrenal glands produce?
Adrenaline
What is adrenaline?
A hormone which is used to prepare the body for a ‘fight or flight’ response
Where are the adrenal glands located?
The kidneys
What hormones does the pancreas produce?
Glucagon and insulin
What do insulin and glucagon do?
Regulate blood glucose levels
Where are insulin and glucagon produced?
Pancreas
What hormone do the ovaries produce?
Progesterone and oestrogen
What hormone do the testes produce?
Testosterone
What does testosterone do?
Controls puberty and sperm production
Why is it important to control water levels in the body?
Too much water moving in and out cells means they could be destroyed
Why is important to control body temperature?
Reactions in cells stop and you will die
Why is it important to control glucose levels in the blood?
Short term: die of a diabetic coma
Long term: organ damage especially eyes, also limbs - blood vessel damage
What is the body’s core temperature?
37*C
What is the core temperature?
The temperature deep in the body e.g. in organs
What happens if core body temperature is too high?
Enzymes start to denature
What happens if core body temperature is too low?
Few enzyme/substrate collision and so chemical reactions slow down
What can affect body temperature?
- external temperature rising or falling
- fevers caused by disease
- energy produced in muscles from respiration during exercise
Why does exercise affect body temperature?
Heat is a by-product of respiration
What are arterioles?
Smaller arteries
What do the thermoreceptors in the hypothalamus do?
Detect blood temperature
What do the thermoreceptors in the skin do?
Detect external temperature
What do the receptors in the hypothalamus do?
- sensitive to temperature changes
* monitor temperature of the blood flowing through brain
What do the thermoreceptors in skin do?
- provide extra information - impulses sent to thermoregulatory centre giving information about skin temperature
- can detect a difference of 0.5*C
How does vasodilation work?
When the body is too hot:
- blood flows to surface capillaries
- pre-capillary sphincter muscle dilates
- much heat radiates from skin surface
How does vasoconstriction work?
When the body is too cold:
- little blood flows through surface capillaries
- pre-capillary sphincter muscle constricted
- little heat radiates from skin surface