Integration of systems

• Which description is the best to describe a nerve?


  A bundle of nerve fibres of both sensory and motor neurons
• What is an example of muscles being stimulated to contract through motor neurons?


  Clenching your fist
• Example of a sensory neuron conveying information from a receptor cell to the central nervous system

  Feeling a warm sensation on your skin from the sun
• What is an example of an unconscious process that involves the spinal cord as an integrating centre?


  Holding your breath underwater
• What area of the brain is responsible for the central integration of different organ systems?


  The cerebral cortex is responsible for many complex functions that require the integration of sensory, motor, and cognitive information. It is made up of densely packed neurons, with different regions specialised for different types of information processing.
• What is an example of emergent properties resulting from the integration of cells, tissues, organs and body systems in a cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)?


  Integration of body systems such as the muscular, skeletal, respiratory, and nervous systems enables cheetahs to run fast and hunt prey effectively. This integration allows for the emergence of properties that cannot be explained by the individual components alone.
• What is an example of system integration in the human body?

  The nervous system transmitting signals from the brain to the muscles
• What is the function of peristalsis in the digestive tract?

  Churning food and moving it in one direction
• Where in the digestive system does peristalsis occur?


  Oesophagus and small intestine
• A stimulus is detected by which part of the body?


  Sensory receptors
• Specialized organ systems allow multiple cells to function in harmony to achieve a shared goal for the survival and wellbeing of an organism
• Cells < tissues < organs < organ systems < organism
• Emergent properties are properties that arise from the interaction of subsystems that, alone cannot tell the be properly predicted
• An example of emergent properties is seen in the Cheetah, as with the integration of its advantageous traits and behaviors like small aerodynamic heads for wind resistance, or clear social structures and communities, and its tail for balance, it has emerged as one of the best predators
• The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system (CNS)
• Nerves make up the peripheral nervous system (PNS) that connects CNS and coordinates all the somatic (voluntary) and autonomic (involuntary- spinal cord) movements
• The nervous system collects, processes and responds to stimuli by sending electrical action potentials (nerve impulses) using neurons, to target organs
• Electrical signals are rapid, but short-lived
• Chemical signals are slow, but long-term
• The endocrine system also collects, processes and responds to stimuli but instead through secreting hormones from endocrine glands that fuse with bloodstream to be carried to target organs
• Blood flows between and facilitates many functions with its transfer of CO2, O2, nutrients, waste, hormones, and such. Hence, it is called the integrator of organ systems
• The cerebrum is split into two hemisphere, with the cortex having the frontal lobe at the anterior , the parietal lobe in the middle, above the temporal lobe with the occipital lobe at the back with cross optical chiasma
• The parietal lobe provides balance and directional orientation to your surroundings
• The frontal lobe controls thinking, personality, motor control, speech, and memory
• The temporal lobe controls yours senses, emotions, memories, and language
• The occipital lobe controls your visual space processing, orientation, facial recognition, distance and depth perception
• The spinal cord controls involuntary reflexes and activities, connecting the brain to the PNS
• The brainstem is in three parts starting closest to brain to closest to spine: Midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata
• The cerebellum under the occipital lobe controls balance and coordination
• The brain receives stimuli from nerves, interprets it and sends response motion instructions to muscles to be carried by glands or nerves
• Neuroplasticity is the concept that suggests neurons change due to their inputs despite their age, with new learning prompting this, and practice solidifying it
• Memory is all over the brain and often sorted by explicit memory (conscious retention) and implicit memory (muscle memory)
• Sensory neurons run from sensory receptors to the central nervous system to where they convey sensory information to make us "feel"
• Sensory receptors can be free nerve endings or specialized cells
• Some receptors that are free nerve endings include thermoreceptors (detect temperature change) and nociceptors (detect pain on both periphery and internal organs)
• Receptors that are specialized cells include chemoreceptors (to detect chemical compounds/compositions), electromagnetic receptors (to detect the transfer of energy- can be more niche like photoreceptors for light), baroreceptors (detecting changes in pH- like the mechanonece, detecting motion, pressure, stretches and more), and proprioceptors (for spatial awareness)
• Motor neurons cause the physical reaction observed by connecting the CNS to the target organ
• Motor neurons have only 1, long axon while they both have numerous dendrites
• Interneurons connect sensory neurons and lower motor neurons (going btwn CNS)
• Upper motor neutrons receives impulses from the brain and send them to the spinal cord