topic 5 - homeostasis & response Flashcards
what is homeostasis?
the regulation of the internal conditions of a cell or organism to maintain optimum conditions for function in response to internal and external changes
what conditions are maintained by homeostasis in the body?
- blood glucose concentration
- body temperature
- water levels
what two types of responses are used in body control systems?
- nervous responses
- chemical responses
what do all automatic control systems include?
- receptor cells - these detect stimuli
- coordination centres - these receive and process information from receptors
- effectors, muscles or glands, which bring about responses which restore optimum levels
what is stimulus?
change in environment
what are three examples of coordination centres in the human body?
- brain
- spinal cord
- pancreas
what is the function of the nervous system?
the nervous system enables humans to react to their surroundings and coordinate their behaviour
how does a stimulus lead to a response being carried out by the body?
- receptors detect a stimulus and send electrical impulses down neurones to the central nervous system
- the central nervous system (co-ordination centre) now sends electrical impulses down other neurones to effectors and the effectors bring about a response
what are effectors?
- effectors are usually a muscle which contracts
- or a gland which secretes a hormone
what are effectors?
- effectors are usually a muscle which contracts
- or a gland which secretes a hormone
what are reflex actions?
reflex actions are automatic and rapid reactions; they do not involve the conscious part of the brain
why are reflex actions important?
reflex actions aid survival by preventing harm to the body
how does a reflex action occur via a reflex arc
- a receptor detects the stimulus
- an electrical impulse passes along a sensory neurone to the spinal cord (part of the CNS)
- at the end of the sensory neurone, there is a junction called the synapse.
- at the synapse, a chemical is released.
- this chemical now diffuses across to a relay neurone in the CNS where it triggers an electrical impulse
- the electrical impulse now passes across the relay neurone and reaches another synapse
- once again a chemical is released
- this chemical triggers an electrical impulse in a motor neurone
- the electrical impulse now passes down the motor neurone to an effector
how can we investigate the effect of a factor on human reaction time?
- person 1 sits on a stool with a good upright posture
- person 1 then places the forearm of their dominant arm across the table
- now person 2 holds a ruler vertically - the 0cm mark should be between person 1’s thumb and first finger
- person 2 then tells person 1 to prepare to catch the ruler
- person 2 now drops the ruler at a random time
- person 1 has to catch the ruler with their thumb and first finger as quickly as possible when it drops
- person 2 now records the measurement on the ruler that is level with the top of person 1’s thumb
- the test is then repeated several times and a mean is calculated
- from these experiments, we convert results to a reaction time which can be done using a conversion table
- at the end the people switch places
what is the independent variable of required practical 7?
- the person having their reaction time tested
what is the dependent variable of required practical 7?
- the reaction time
what are the control variables of required practical 7?
- the starting distance between the thumb and the first finger should be kept constant
- the ruler at the top of the thumb should always be measured
- the conditions of the room should be kept the same, eg. lighting and level of background noise
what is the difference between a reflex pathway and a conscious pathway?
- within a reflex pathway, the coordination centre is a relay neurone found in the spinal cord/unconscious parts of the brain
- in a conscious pathway, the coordination centre is in the conscious part of the brain
what is the brain?
a protected organ inside the skull that form different regions
what is the function of the cerebral cortex?
controls consciousness, intelligence, memory + language
what is the function of the cerebellum?
- controls muscular activity, balance and movement
what is the spinal cord?
- a long, thin structure made up of nervous tissue, connected to the medulla
what is the function of the medulla?
- controls unconscious activities e.g. heartbeat, movement of the gut, breathing
what is the function of the pituitary gland?
- produces hormones and receives electrical impulses from the brain via the hypothalamus
what is the function of the hypothalamus?
- regulates body temperature and releases hormones
how do scientists find out the functions of different parts of the brain?
- studying patients with brain damage
- electrically stimulating parts of the brain using MRI
why is the investigation and treatment of the brain difficult?
- the brain is a complex and delicate organ
- the brain is easily damaged and destroyed
- certain membranes prevent drugs from reaching the brain
- the exact function of each part of the brain is not known
what is created to produce an image using MRI?
a magnetic field
what is an advantage of using MRI to investigate the brain?
creates a detailed and a clear scan of the brain
what is the disadvantage of using MRI to investigate the brain?
noisy/little space
what is inserted into the brain to electrically stimulate it?
electrodes
how can scientists use electrical stimulation to determine the function of the brain?
- they can stimulate different parts of the brain and what effect this has
what is the definition of the eye?
a sense organ containing receptors sensitive to light intensity and colour
what is the function of the ciliary muscle/suspensory ligament?
to hold the lens in position and change its length
how is the iris adapted for its function?
contracts and relaxes to control size of the pupil - in dim light the pupil gets bigger to allow as much light as possible into the eye
how is the cornea adapted for its function?
refracts light - bends as light enters
how is the lens adapted for its function?
focuses the light rays as the light passes through
how is the retina adapted for its function?
- contains the light sensitive cells, where the light is focused
how is the sclera adapted for its function?
- tough white outer layer of the eye, to prevent damage
- has a transparent area at the front to allow light through the lens
how is the optic nerve adapted for its function?
- the optic nerve contains sensory neurons that carry electrical impulses in the brain
how does the brain receive information about the eye recieving light?
- retina is sensitive to light as it contains light receptor cells that are sensitive to light
- the impulse cells passes along the optic nerve which pass along the optic neuron
what is the iris reflex?
depending on the intensity of surrounding light, the iris makes an adjustment to ensure that the retina receives the correct amount of light
what happens to the eye in dim light?
- circular muscles relax
- radial muscles contract
- pupils dilate
- increasing amount of light entering
what happens to the eye in bright light?
- circular muscles contract
- radial muscles relax
- pupils constricts
- reduces amount of light entering
what is accommodation?
the ability of focusing on near or distant objects by changing the shape of the lens in the eye
how does the eye focus on near objects?
- the ciliary muscles contract
- loosening the suspensory ligaments
- which thickens and curves the lens
- light rays are strongly refracted onto the retina
how does the eye focus on far objects?
- the ciliary muscles relax
- pulling the suspensory ligaments tightly
- the lens is then pulled thin
- and only slightly refracts light rays.
what is myopia?
- myopia (short-sightedness) usually occurs when the lens of the eye is too curved
- as a result, light is focused in front of the retina so images appear blurry
how can myopia be treated?
- this can be corrected using a concave lens so light focuses correctly on the lens
what is hyperopia?
- hyperopia (long-sightedness) usualy occurs when the lens of the eye is too flat/thin or if the eyeball is too short
- as a result, light is focused behind the retina so images appear out of focus
how can hyperopia be treated?
- can be treated wearing thicker glasses with a convex lens
- this refocuses the rays onto the retina
what are treatments for vision defects?
- contact lenses
- laser eye surgery
- replacement lens surgery
what are the two types of contact lenses?
hard - rigid material, last a long time, must be kept sterile
soft - flexible material, last for a shorter time, more comfortable
what is laser eye surgery?
- to treat myopia, lasers reduce the thickness of the cornea so light is refracted less strongly
- to treat hyperopia, lasers alter the curvature of the cornea so that the light is refracted correctly
what is the normal human body temperature?
37°C
what monitors and controls body temperature?
- the brain