L6- CONTROL AND COORDINATION

How would you define a living organism?

A living organism is the one which shows the following characteristics
• It shows growth
• It shows metabolism
• It shows reproduction
• It shows response to stimuli
Whenever we see an organism move, we consider it to be alive.
Eg: the seed sprouting and producing a plumule and radicle and coming out of the soil to bear
leaflets.
The cows, buffaloes chewing food, children running around etc.
The movements in all organisms are associated as a response to a change in the environment
around the organism.
We cover our eyes when we a bright light is flashed on our eyes. We immediately pull our hand
away if we accidentally touch a hot object. The plants always grow towards the light. The cat runs
after a mouse to hunt it so it can feed itself.
These are some examples of response to a change in the environment.
For example, writing, dancing, cycling, etc. Therefore, voluntary nervous system helps us take
voluntary actions which are under the conscious control of brain.
Let’s take the example of writing during the exam. We have a controlled coordination of our body.
We measure the amount of time that is required to complete the answers. Time management in
which there is a coordination between the brain and your hand to control the speed with which you
write and the content to be written.
Specialised tissues in our body are responsible to bring such control and coordination.
• Neuron Structure
• A neuron varies in shape and size depending on its function and location. All neurons have
three different parts – dendrites, cell body and axon.
• Parts of Neuron
• Following are the different parts of a neuron:
• Dendrites
• These are branch-like structures that receive messages from other neurons and allow the
transmission of messages to the cell body.
• Cell Body
• Each neuron has a cell body with a nucleus, Golgi body, endoplasmic
reticulum, mitochondria and other components.
• Axon

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 • Axon is a tube-like structure that carries electrical impulse from the cell body to the axon
terminals that pass the impulse to another neuron.
• Synapse
• It is the chemical junction between the terminal of one neuron and the dendrites of another
neuron.

ANIMALS – NERVOUS SYSTEM

Control and coordination in human beings is brought about by nervous and muscular system.

⮚ When we touch a hot object, we immediately pull our hand away from it. How do we do
that?

⮚ There are some specialised tips of nerve cells present in our sense organs. What are the
different sense organs in our body?

⮚ These receptors detect the change in the environment. This information, such as the hot
object coming in contact with our skin is detected by the dendritic tips of the nerve cells.
This sets off an electric impulse in dendrite which travels through the cell body, then along
the axon to its end.

⮚ At the end of the axon the electrical impulse sets off release of some chemicals. These
chemicals will now cross the gap present between the other nerve and start a similar
electric impulse in the next nerve cell/neuron. This way several neurons receive the electric
impulses until it reaches for example the muscles in this case so we move our hand away
from the hot object.

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WHAT IS A NERVOUS TISSUE?
It is a group of organised network of nerve cells or neurons. They specialise in conducting
information via electrical impulses from one part of the body to another.
The gustatory receptors are present in the tongue and help in detection of taste. The olfactory
receptors are present in the nose which help in detection of smell.
When a person blocks their nose, or when a person suffers from cold, their olfactory receptors are
blocked.
Taste of food is obtained by a combination of olfactory and gustatory receptors working
together.
If either is blocked the food will not taste the same.

▪ What happens in Reflex Actions?

▪ Reflex: Some sudden action in response to the change in the environment.

▪ ‘I jumped out of the way of the bus reflexly’, or ‘I pulled my hand back from the flame
reflexly’, or ‘I was so hungry my mouth started watering reflexly’.

▪ In all of the above examples we are doing some action without even thinking about it.

▪ In all these examples we are responding to a change in the environment.

▪ In case of the example if we touch a flame, it is an urgent and dangerous situation for any
animal. In this case we think of the pain and the possibility of getting burns so we
immediately pull our hand way from the flame. While thinking this many nerve impulses are
created and there is an interaction between various neurons and electrical impulses.

▪ The thinking part of the brain consists of a network of intricately arranged nerve cells.

▪ It is connected with nerves from various parts of the body. It is involved with receiving
signals/electrical impulses from parts of the body and thinking about the issue before
responding to a situation.

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 ▪ If the information about the possibility of getting was to be sent back to the hand from the
thinking part of the brain, it may take too long and a person might get burnt.

▪ To the tackle this problem, the nerves that detect the heat are connected directly to the
nerves that move the muscles. This way the response to the change in the environment
becomes much more quick.

▪ This type of connection is called a Reflex arc.

▪ Nerves from all over the body meet in a bundle in the spinal cord on their way to the brain.

▪ Reflex arcs are formed in the spinal cord in these regions.

▪ The information also goes to the brain.

▪ it is quite likely that reflex arcs have evolved as efficient ways of functioning in the absence
of true thought processes.

▪ Since we are thinking beings, spinal cord is not only involved with the reflex action but also
supplies nerves that help think to the brain. Thinking involves more complex mechanisms
and neural connections. These are concentrated in the brain, which is the main
coordinating centre of the body. The brain and spinal cord constitute the CENTRAL
NERVOUS SYSTEM.

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 ▪ They receive information from all parts of the body and integrate it.

▪ Writing, talking, moving a chair, clapping at the end of a programme are examples of
voluntary actions which are based on deciding what to do next. So, the brain also has to
send messages to muscles. This is the second way in which the nervous system
communicates with the muscles. The communication between the central nervous system
and the other parts of the body is facilitated by the peripheral nervous system consisting of
cranial nerves arising from the brain and spinal nerves arising from the spinal cord.

Fore brain or Cerebrum:

• Main thinking and largest part of the brain which controls voluntary actions, stores
information, Receives sensory impulses from various body parts and integrates it. It has 3
main areas.
• a. Sensory area- to receive impulses from sense organs via Receptors
• b. Motor area- control voluntary movements
• c. Association areas- Reasoning, learning & intelligence.
• Thalamus- It relays sensory information to the cerebrum.
• Hypothalamus- It forms the link between Nervous system & Endocrine system

Mid-brain:
• It connects the forebrain and hindbrain.
• It is the portion of the central nervous system associated with vision, hearing, motor control,
sleep/wake, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation.

Hind-brain:
It has three parts:

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 • Cerebellum- controls & coordinates muscular movements, maintaining body posture and
equilibrium.
• Pons- acts as a bridge between brain and spinal cord
• Medulla Oblongata- Controls involuntary actions like blood pressure, salivation, vomiting
etc.
Spinal cord: It is a cylindrical or tubular structure extending downwards from the medulla
oblongata.

How is brain and spinal cord protected?

⮚ Brain is a delicate organ, it is present in a bony box also called cranium which protects it
from injuries. Brain is contained in cerebrospinal fluid that provides shock absorption.

⮚ If we run our hand down the middle of our back, we feel a hard bumpy structure. This is
called vertebral column or backbone which protects the spinal cord.

How does the nervous tissue cause action?

• When any action or movement has to be performed, muscle tissues do the final job.
• The muscle tissues change their shape because of the presence of special proteins present
in them. These muscle tissues shorten and also change their arrangement in response to
the electrical impulses.
COORDINATION IN PLANTS:
• When a seed germinates the root penetrates deep into the soil and the stem grows out of
the soil. When we touch the leaves of touch me not plant, the leaves droop or fold up.

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 • Plants show two kinds of movement- one depends on its growth as in case of the seedling
and the other is independent of growth (in response to stimulus)
IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO STIMULUS- THIGMONASTY
Eg: Touch me not plant of Mimosa family.
At the point of contact, the leaves of the touch me not start drooping or folding up.
• The plants also use electrical-chemical means to convey the information from cell to cell,
but unlike in animals, there is no specialised tissue in plants for the conduction of
information.
• Like muscle cells in animals, some cells must change shape in order for movement to
happen.
• Instead of the specialized proteins found in animal muscle cells, plant cells change shape
by changing the amount of water in them, resulting in swelling or shrinking, and therefore in
changing shapes.
MOVEMENTS DUE TO GROWTH:
Tendrils: Thigmotropism

❑ Some plants which are called climbers Eg: Pea Plant climb up other plants or fences with
the help of tendrils.

❑ A part of the tendril comes in contact with the support and coils around the support.

❑ It pulls the weak stem of the plant vertically towards the support.

Response to stimulus:

❑ Plants respond to stimulus by slowly growing in a particular direction.

❑ Because this growth is directional (as seen in plants growing towards the light), it appears
as if the plant is moving.

❑ Environmental triggers such as light and gravity are capable of changing the direction of the
plant parts which they grow in.

❑ Tropic movements: The movements of plants dependent on growth in the direction of

stimulus (positive) or away from it (negative) are called tropic movements.
E.g. Phototropism, Geotropism, Chemotropism.

❑ Phototropism : the growth of the plant towards the light is called phototropism.

✔ The phototropic movement is of two types, one is towards the light and the other away from
it.

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 ✔ The growth towards the light is called positive phototropism and the growth away from it is
negative phototropism.

✔ Shoots are positively phototropic while roots are negatively phototropic.

✔ Geotropism: the growth in response to the pull of earth or gravity

✔ Hydrotropism: growth in response to water

✔ Chemotropism: growth in response to chemicals

Ex: growth of pollen tube towards the ovule.

✔ Nastic movements: The movements of plants independent of growth and non-directional is

nastic movements

What are the limitations of electrical impulses?

The limitations to electrical impulses are :

i. The electrical impulses are only transmitted to those cells which are connected by nervous
tissue and does not reach each and every cell.
ii. The cell may take time to reset its mechanisms and be ready for generating another
impulse. The cells cannot continuously generate electrical impulses.
Multicellular organisms use another means of communication between cells. This is by use of
chemical communication i.e. hormones.
If, instead of generating an electrical impulse, stimulated cells release a chemical compound,
this compound would diffuse all around the original cell. If other cells around have the means to
detect this compound using special molecules on their surfaces, then they would be able to
recognize information, and even transmit it. This will be slower, of course, but it can potentially
reach all cells of the body, regardless of nervous connections, and it can be done steadily and
persistently.
• Chemical coordination is seen both in plants and animals through the use of Hormones
• Hormones are chemical substances secreted by endocrine glands and have specific
functions.
PHYTOHORMONES or Hormones in Plants
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 The four types of plant hormones responsible for control and coordination in plants are:
• 1) Auxins
• 2) Gibberellins
• 3) Cytokinins
• 4) Abscissic acid (ABA)
• Auxins: Auxins hormone controls a plant response to light and gravity. It is made by the
cells present at the tip of a stem and roots. This hormone moves the plant away from light
and towards gravity. It speeds up the growth of stem and slows down the growth of roots.
This diagram explains the bending of a plant stem or shoot towards light by the action of
‘auxin hormone’. Auxins promote cell enlargement, cell differentiation and fruit growth
• Gibberellins: Gibberellins hormone works in the presence of auxin hormone and promotes
cell enlargement and cell differentiation. It also promotes fruit growth, elongation of shoots
and in breaking the dormancy in seeds and buds.
• Cytokinins: This hormone promotes cell division in plants and breaks dormancy in seeds
and buds. They also delay ageing in leaves and promote the opening of stomata.
• Abscissic acid: This hormone inhibits the growth of a plant. Therefore Abscissic acid
promotes dormancy in seeds and buds. It promotes closing of stomata, wilting and falling
of leaves and detachment of fruit and flower from the plant.
• Ethylene: Ethylene mainly performs two functions- it helps in the ripening of fruits and it
plays an important role in the dropping of leaves, fruits and flowers (abscission). It is a very
unusual plant hormone as it occurs in the gaseous form.
• While auxins, gibberellins and Cytokinins promote the growth of a plant, Abscissic acid
prevents or hampers the growth of a plant.

Consider the following situation:

A boy is very scared of the dark and gets locked in a dark room. There are two ways the boy
can deal with this situation.
• Fight- To actively deal/cope with the situation
• Flight- To run away somehow
The Fight and Flight are complicated and require energy as well as coordination with various
muscles.
Why don’t animals rely on nerve impulses to deal with such situations?
• The nerve impulses can only reach certain tissues of the body.
• The chemical signals on the other hand reach all cells of the body and the body can
prepare itself for a wide range of changes.
In the example discussed earlier a hormone called Adrenaline is released by the adrenal
glands into the blood when the body is in a stressful situation.
The following changes occur in the body as soon as adrenaline is released.

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 • Heart beats faster, resulting in supply of more oxygen to our muscles.
• Blood to the digestive system and skin is reduced due to contraction of muscles around
the arteries in these organs.
• This diverts blood to our skeletal muscles.
• The breathing rate increases because of the contractions of the diaphragm and the rib
muscles.
These changes together help deal with the situation.
Endocrine system is involved in the chemical coordination.
• Endocrine system is associated with hormones.
• Hormones are our body’s chemical messengers.
• They travel in our bloodstream to tissues or organs.
• They play an important role in growth, development, metabolism, reproduction etc.
• Hormones are secreted in response to external as well as internal stimuli.
• Glands are organs which produce and release substances that perform specific functions in
the body.

Lets look at the following examples to understand how hormones help in growth.
HORMONES IN ANIMALS
• Hormones play an essential role in coordinated growth in animals (humans) such as:

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 • Thyroxine: It promotes sugar, protein, and fat digestion in the body to give the best
balance for growth. Iodine is important for the thyroid organ to make thyroxine hormone. In
case iodine is deficient in our diet, there is a possibility we may suffer from goitre.
• Growth hormone: It is secreted by the pituitary gland. It manages the development and
advancement of the body i.e. growth of the body. The deficiency of this hormone in
childhood may lead to dwarfism.
• Feedback Mechanism: The excess or deficiency of hormones has a harmful effect on our
body. Feedback mechanism makes sure that hormones are secreted in precise quantities
and at the right time.
• Insulin: This is produced by the pancreas and helps in regulating blood sugar levels. As
the blood sugar level falls, the secretion of insulin will be low. Diabetes occurs as a result of
your body being unable to produce any, or enough, insulin to regulate your blood
glucose, your blood glucose levels may become very high. This happens because there's
insufficient insulin to move glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells to produce
energy.
• Testosterone in males and Oestrogen in females: These are responsible for dramatic
changes in appearance associated with puberty (10-12 years of age)

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