Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care

UNIT 31: PHYSIOLOGY OF CO-ORDINATIONUnit content1 Understand how the body is co-ordinatedEnvironment: internal, external; reception of stimuli from environment, eg raisedcarbon dioxide level in blood, light, soundNervous co-ordination: receptors — sense organs, electrical impulses along neuralpathways; effectors — muscles (contraction); glands (secretion); specific target,fast and brief responseEndocrine co-ordination: endocrine glands, action of hormones, change inmetabolic activities of body tissues; diffuse, slower and longer lasting response;feedback mechanismsIntegration of nervous and endocrine co-ordination: eg role of hypothalamus andpituitary gland, role of adrenal medulla/actions of adrenaline2 Understand the structure and functioning of the sense organsSensations: eg touch, pressure, pain, temperature, taste, sight, hearingSkin: sensory receptors: Meissner’s corpuscles, Pacinian corpuscles, free nerveendings around hair follicles, distribution of cutaneous sensationOlfactory and gustatory sense organs: taste buds, links between the twoEye: structure and function of parts, retina (rods and cones), mechanism foradaptation to light intensity, focal length, colour vision, movements of eyes,visual cerebral cortexEar: structure and function of outer, middle and inner ear, organ of Corti,auditory cerebral cortex3 Understand the physiology of the nervous systemCentral nervous system: brain, spinal cordPeripheral nervous system: cranial nerves, spinal nervesNervous tissue: neurone structure (sensory/afferent, motor/efferent, accessory);nerve fibres, myelin sheath, nodes of Ranvier; white matter, grey matter; majorparts of the brain (medulla oblongata, cerebellum, thalamus, hypothalamus,cerebral cortex); spinal cord; meningesNerve pathways: reflex arc; afferent nerve fibres, efferent nerve fibres;transmission of a nerve impulse: resting potential, action potential, saltatoryconduction, synapses, neurotransmittersAutonomic nervous system: sympathetic, parasympathetic; roles of each inregulating internal body functions, feedback mechanisms and homeostasis394BN018467 – Specification – Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care– Issue 1 – February 2007 © Edexcel Limited 2007