Unit 5: The nervous and endocrine systems                    1   2   3   4   5

1. The interaction function

Interaction is the set of processes, which allows living beings to obtain information and to respond in consequence.

These processes enable living beings:

- Interact with their environment (other living beings and their surroundings)

- Perceive what is happening in the inside of their organisms themselves.

They have sensitivity; that is they are able to react to different circumstances:

- Stimulus is the change able to cause a reaction in an organism.

- Response is the provoked reaction itself.

On the other hand, interaction function includes all the mechanisms which assure that the different organ systems of the body act in coordination.

The organ systems involved in the interaction function are:

• Nervous system. It receives information from the sensory organs, processes this information and elaborates appropriate responses.

• Endocrine system. It produces hormones as response to the orders of nervous system. These hormones control many functions and processes of the body.

• Skeletal system. Its function is to allow the movement and to protect organs. It is the passive part of the locomotor system.

• Muscular system. Its function is the movement. It forms, with the skeleton, the locomotor system. It is the active part of it.