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AQA A-level Biology > topic 6: control of heart rate and light receptors > Flashcards

topic 6: control of heart rate and light receptors Flashcards

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1
Q

what is the CNS?

A

central nervous system
the brain and the spinal cord

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2
Q

what is the peripheral nervous system?

A

made up of pairs of nerves that originate from the brain of spinal cord
consists of the sensory neurone system and the motor neurone system

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3
Q

what can the motor neurone system be divided into?

A

voluntary nervous system and autonomic nervous system

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4
Q

what is the purpose of the sensory neurone system?

A

carry nerve impulses away from the receptors and towards the CNS

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5
Q

what is the purpose of the motor neurone system?

A

carries nerve impulses away from CNS to effectors

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6
Q

what is the voluntary nervous system?

A

carries nerve impulses to the body muscles and is under voluntary/conscious control

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7
Q

what is the autonomic nervous system?

A

carries nerve impulses to the glands,smooth muscle and cardiac muscle
it is involuntary

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8
Q

what is a reflex arc?

A

pathway of neurone that links receptors to effectors in a simple reflex
it is rapid involuntary response
it bypasses the CNS

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9
Q

how many neurones in a reflex arc?

A

3

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10
Q

why are reflex arcs important?

A

make survival more likely
they are involuntary and don’t require decision by the brain
to protect body from harmful stimuli
fast
effective from birth don’t need to be learned

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11
Q

stimulus in a reflex arc where a hot object is touched

A

heat from the hot object

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12
Q

receptor in a reflex arc where a hot object is touched

A

detect temperature on skin and generate a nervous impulse

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13
Q

neurones involved in a reflex arc when a hot object is touched?

A

sensory: passes nerve impulse to spinal cord
relay: links sensory neurone and motor
motor: carries nerve impulse from the spinal cord to a muscle in the upper arm

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14
Q

effector in a reflex arc when a hot object is touched?

A

muscles in the upper arm are stimulated to contract

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15
Q

does the nervous system have control in the heart?

A

cardiac muscle is myogenic so it contracts and relaxes on its own without nervous input
the nervous system does control rate of reaction

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16
Q

what is the sinoatrial node?

A

a group of cells in the right atrium known as the pacemaker
sets the pace that the heart will beat at

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17
Q

where is the atrioventricular node found?

A

between the right atrium and left ventricle

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18
Q

what is the bundle of His?

A

tissues running through the septum

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19
Q

where are the purkyne fibres found?

A

in ventricle walls

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20
Q

explain the events involved in the electrical coordination of the heartbeat

A
  1. initial stimulus for the heartbeat starts at the SAN and sets up a wave of electrical activity
    2.the wave spreads out from the SAN across both atria causing them to contract and push blood into ventricles
  2. wave of electrical activity reaches AVN
    4.AVN delay electrical activity so atria can empty before ventricles contract
    5.atria relax
    6.wave of electrical activity is directed to purkyne fibres that form the bundle of His
  3. bundle of His passes along the septum to the bottom of the ventricles then upwards
  4. blood is forced from the ventricles into the aorta and pulmonary artery
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21
Q

what happens in the electrical coordination of the heart after blood has been forced into the aorta and pulmonary artery?

A
  1. short delay before the next wave of excitation occurs. the atria and ventricles are relaxed during this time
  2. atria begin to fill with blood from pulmonary vein and vena cava and the process starts again
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22
Q

what is the role of the autonomic nervous system?

A

it controls the involuntary activities of internal muscles and glands

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23
Q

what are the 2 divisions of the autonomic nervous system?

A

sympathetic and parasympathetic

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24
Q

what does the sympathetic nervous system link?

A

acceleratory centre to the SAN to increase heart rate

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25
what is the role of the sympathetic nervous system?
stimulates effectors speeds up activities prepares for stressful activities by increasing the rate of respiration-fight or flight
26
what does the parasympathetic nervous system link?
inhibitory centre to the SAN to decrease heart rate
27
what is the relationship between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system?
they are antagonistic-actions oppose each other
28
what happens to heart rate if more impulses are sent via the sympathetic?
causes SAN to release waves of depolarisation more frequently and increase heart ratew
29
what happens to heart rate if more impulses are sent via the parasympathetic?
SAN releases waves of depolarisation less frequently decreasing heart ratewh
30
what controls the heart?
the cardio-regulatory centre in the medulla oblongata of the brain located at the base of the brain
31
what are the 2 regions of the cardio-regulatory centre?
acceleratory and inhibitory
32
what does the acceleratory centre do?
increase the heart rate, is linked to the SAN of the heart by the sympathetic nervous system
33
what does the inhibitory centre do?
decrease the heart rate, linked to SAN by parasympathetic
34
what are chemoreceptors?
receptors are sensitive to change in PH found in walls of carotid artery and walls of aorta
35
why are chemoreceptors necessary?
when exercising CO2 is produced forms an acid that lowers PH H+ concentration increases
36
how is heart rate increased?
1. increase in muscular activity 2.increase in Co2 produced by tissues from respiraton 3.fall in blood PH 4.detected by chemoreceptors in carotid arteries 5.more nerve impulses sent to acceleratory centre of cardiac centre in medulla 6.more impulses along sympathetic to SAN 7.SAN stimulated by neurotransmitter noradrenaline 8.increased frequency waves of electrical activity across atria and ventricles, increases heart rate 9. increased blood flow, CO2 removed quicker 10. CO2 returns to norma
37
how is heart rate decreased?
1.decrease in CO2 or H+, decrease the stimulation of chemoreceptors 2.inhibitory centre in the medulla sends more impulses via the parasympathetic nerves 3.SAN is stimulated by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine 4.reduces frequency of waves of electrical activity and heart rate decreases
38
what are pressure receptors known as?
baroreceptors
39
explain how heart rate is controlled by pressure receptors?
1.they are found in the walls of carotid arteries and aorta 2.when blood pressure is higher than normal, impulses sent to the medulla 3.more impulses are sent via the parasympathetic nervous system to SAN 4.decreases heart rate 5,when BP lower than normal, fewer impulses to medulla, more impulses via sympathetic to SAN to increase heart rate
40
what are sensory receptors?
they respond to only one type of stimulus e.g. light, heat,sound,pressure
41
what do sensory receptors act as?
transducers all receptors convert energy of stimulus into a nerve impulse called a generator potential
42
what is a generator potential?
the potential difference due to a stimulus
43
what happens when a stimulus is detected?
membrane of neurone is excited it becomes more permeable to ions, changing the potential difference bigger the stimulus, the bigger the pd change and generator potential If the GP is big enough, it will reach threshold and an AP generated
44
structure of the pacinian corpuscle
found deep in the skin especially fingers,soles of feet, also ligaments and tendons
45
function of the pacinian corpuscle
responds to mechanical stimuli like pressure chances mechanical energy to generator potential
46
explain how the pacinian corpuscle works
1. it consists of several layers surrounding the end of the fibre of the sensory neurone 2.plasma membrane has special stretch-mediated sodium channels 3.channels change permeability to sodium ions when they change shape by stretching 4.in resting state, they are too narrow to allow sodium ions through so the neurone in the pacinian corpuscle is said to have resting potential
47
what happens when pressure is applied to the pacininan corpuscle?
5.it changes shape/is deformed so becomes stretched 6.sodium channels widen and sodium ions diffuse into the neurone 7.influx of sodium ions changes the potential of the membrane and produces generator potential 8.generator potential reaches threshold to trigger AP that passes neurone to the CNS
48
how many rods are in each eye
120 million
49
how are rods distributed in the eye?
widely across the retina few at the fovea none at the blind spot
50
what is the sensivity of rods?
high sensitivity-sensitve to low intensity light enable animals to distinguish light from dark in low intensity light
51
what don't rods do
distinguish different colours
52
what do rods contain?
rhodopsin
53
what is the role of rhodopsin
it is broken down by low intensity Light
54
what happens to rhodopsin at low intensity light or high intensity light?
absorbs light gets broken down(bleaching) changes the membrane potential, Na diffuses in and creates generator potential threshold reached AP generated
55
how much light is needed to break down rhodopsin?
one photon allows night vision
56
how many cones are in each eye?
6 million
57
where are cones In the eye?
fovea none at the blind spot
58
why are cones important?
they are sensitive to different WLs of light so colour can be distinguished 3 types responding to:red, blue,green when stimulated in combination, range of colours on the visible spectrum are seen
59
what pigment is found in cones?
iodopsin
60
what is needed to break down iodopsin
a high light intensity to break It down and create a GP
61
Define sensitivity
how much light is needed to stimulate the receptors
62
are rods or cones more sensitive?
rods are stimulated in light of lower intensity than cones so are more sensitivity
63
why do rods have a higher sensitivity?
several rods converge on one bipolar neurone and one ganglion cell=retinal convergence one rod alone cannot produce enough neurotransmitter for GP to reach threshold in bipolar neurone to produce AP groups of rods are stimulated by low intensity light at the same time, so combine to generate AP because threshold for neurotransmitter transmission reached- summation image is less defined
64
define visual acuity
how far apart 2 spots of light can be seen as seperate
65
what affects visual acuity
affected by the way receptors are connected to optic nerves enables sharp images to be seen
66
do rods or cones have better visual acuity?
cones have good visual acuity rods have low
67
why do cone cells have high visual acuity?
they each have a single connection to a single bipolar neurone so if 2 adjacent cone cells are stimulated, the brainrecieves 2 seperate nerve impulses so brain can distinguish between 2 dots of light close together so cone cells give accurate vision light id focused on the fovea by the lens, which is where the highest number of cone cells are found
68
why do rods have a low visual acuity?
because many rod cells link with one bipolar neurone so several dots of light would only generate one nerve impulse dots would appear as a single point of light
69

AQA A-level Biology (32 decks)

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