Chapter 5 — Chapter 5 — Coordination

Nervous system detects stimuli and coordinates responses rapidly by electrical impulses. CNS: brain and spinal cord, protected by skull, vertebrae and meninges. Brain: forebrain — cerebrum (thinking, memory, intelligence, voluntary actions, senses), thalamus (relay centre for sensory impulses), hypothalamus (temperature, hunger, thirst, sleep; controls pituitary); midbrain — visual and auditory reflexes; hindbrain — cerebellum (balance, posture, muscle coordination), pons (relay, breathing), medulla oblongata (heartbeat, breathing, BP, swallowing, coughing). Spinal cord: outer white matter (axons), inner grey matter (cell bodies); reflex centre. PNS: cranial and spinal nerves; somatic (voluntary) and autonomic — sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest).