Ch 5Neural Control and Coordination — Class 12 Zoology, concept-first.

Every living organism must constantly sense changes around it and respond in a coordinated way — the many organs of the body never work in isolation, but adjust and combine their individual activities…

The neural system found across the animal kingdom is built from highly specialised cells called neurons — cells adapted to detect a stimulus, receive it, and transmit it onward as an impulse.

The human neural system is organised into two major divisions:

The neuron is the structural and functional unit of the neural system — a microscopic cell specialised to detect, carry and transmit impulses.

Neurons are excitable cells — cells able to be stimulated — and this excitability arises because their membranes are kept in a polarised state.

A nerve impulse does not stay confined to a single neuron; it has to be handed over from one neuron to the next so that information can travel through the nervous system.

The central neural system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord, and the brain is its most important part.

The forebrain is the largest and most elaborate division of the brain. It is built up of three parts: the cerebrum, the thalamus and the hypothalamus.

The midbrain is the short middle division of the brain, positioned between the forebrain and the hindbrain.

The hindbrain is the rearmost of the three major divisions of the brain, and it is built from three parts working together: the pons, the cerebellum and the medulla oblongata (often shortened to the m…

The body's many organs cannot work in isolation; their activities must be coordinated so that they act as one integrated whole.

Higher-order thinking / exemplar-style practice problems.