sl integration of body systems Flashcards
System integration
- This is a necessary process in living systems. Coordination is needed for component parts of a system to collectively perform an overall function.
Cells, tissues, organs and body systems as a hierarchy of subsystems that are integrated in a multicellular living organism
- Students should appreciate that this integration is responsible for emergent properties. For example, a cheetah becomes an effective predator by integration of its body systems.
Integration of organs in animal bodies by hormonal and nervous signalling and by transport of materials and energy
- Distinguish between the roles of the nervous system and endocrine system in sending messages.
- Using examples, emphasize the role of the blood system in transporting materials between organs.
The brain as a central information integration organ
- Limit to the role of the brain in processing information combined from several inputs and in learning and memory.
- Students are not required to know details such as the role of slow-acting neurotransmitters.
The spinal cord as an integrating centre for unconscious processes
- Students should understand the difference between conscious and unconscious processes.
Input to the spinal cord and cerebral hemispheres through sensory neurons
- Students should understand that sensory neurons convey messages from receptor cells to the central nervous system.
Output from the cerebral hemispheres to muscles through motor neurons
- Students should understand that muscles are stimulated to contract.
Nerves as bundles of nerve fibres of both sensory and motor neurons
- Use a transverse section of a nerve to show the protective sheath, and myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibres.
Pain reflex arcs as an example of involuntary responses with skeletal muscle as the effector
- Use the example of a reflex arc with a single interneuron in the grey matter of the spinal cord and a free sensory nerve ending in a sensory neuron as a pain receptor in the hand.
