CO-Ordination And Control In Animals

In higher animals coordination of cells within the body as well as of the whole body with its environment is achieved by nervous coordination and  hormonal coordination, which are the activities of nervous system and endocrine systems, respectively. These two coordination systems connect the sensory and effector system together to produce effective behaviour and homoeostasis.

Nervous Coordination: The nervous coordination is brought about by means of nervous system. It is the quickest way of communication within the body of an animal. In this method, communication takes place by electro-chemical messages called nerve impulse. The nervous system consists of two types of tissues called neurons and neuroglia (glial cells).

    Neurons receive in formations about any change (stimulus) in external or internal environment of the body through sensory cells or organs called receptors and mostly report it to the control centre of the nervous system. After analysis and integration with other stimuli, the control centre sends commands for an appropriate response to the effector organs (muscles, glands). Information from the receptors to the control centre are taken by the afferent nerve pathway while back from the control centre to the effector by another pathway called efferent nerve pathway. The entire communication from the stimulus to the response can occur within milliseconds. The coordination by nervous system is summarised in the figure.