nerves and hormones

• hormones and nerves carry messages in different ways
• nerves and hormones both carry info and instructions around the body
• nerves:

  • very fast action
  • act for a very short time
  • act on a very precise area
• hormones:

  • slower action
  • act for a long time
  • act in a more general way
• if the response is really quick, its nervous
• some info needs to be passed to effectors really quickly (e.g. pain signals), so its not good using hormones to carry the message - they are too slow
• if a response lasts for a long time, its hormonal