Nervous System - exam practice
Nervous System
Question 1 of 6
A man accidentally touches a hot stove and quickly moves his hand away from it.
This is a reflex action.
Describe how the structures shown in the image help to coordinate a reflex action.
Which two of the following are other examples of reflex actions?
How can you tell that a reflex action is not a conscious action?
Use information from the diagram.
Write down one advantage of a reflex arc not involving the brain.
Explain why reflex actions are helpful adaptations that increase chances of survival.
Reflex actions are rapid and automatic.
Babies are born with reflexes.
A baby's reflexes include:
Choose two of the reflexes from the table and suggest how they help the baby to survive.
Name the different structures in a reflex action.
The structure that detects the stimulus.
The neurone that carries the electrical impulse to the CNS.
Neurones in the CNS that allow the other neurones to communicate with each other.
The neurone that carries the electrical impulse away from the CNS.
The structure that brings about the response.
Morphine is a very strong painkiller.
Morphine stops the release of several different neurotransmitters.
This means that neurotransmitters cannot cross the synapse and bind to the receptors on the next neurone.
Use your knowledge of synapses and nerve impulse transmission to explain how morphine and other painkillers act to reduce the pain felt by the person.
Animals rely on sense organs to find food.
Name three receptor types a rabbit might use to help detect food in its environment. For each receptor type suggest where that receptor is likely to be found on the rabbit's body.
A branch falls off a tree near a rabbit.
The rabbit jumps at the noise.
Describe the processes by which the rabbit responds to the stimulus of the fallen branch.
A doctor tests a child’s nervous system by tapping the tendon just below the knee.
What is the name given to cells that are sensitive to stimuli?
The child stretches his leg involuntarily.
What is the effector in this response?
This response is one example of a reflex action.
The nerve pathway followed by a reflex action is called a reflex arc.
Reflex arcs start with a stimulus and end up with a response from an effector.
A girl picks up a hot plate. A reflex action causes her to drop it.
Describe this example of a reflex action in terms of:
stimulus ➔ receptor ➔ coordinator ➔ effector ➔ response
Some people have a condition in which information from the skin does not reach their brain.
Explain why this is dangerous.
A man fell and hit his head.
The doctors are worried that he might have suffered injuries to his spinal cord.
Different areas of the man's skin were touched with a sharp object, and the man was asked if he could feel the object touching him.
Explain how the information from the man's skin reaches the man’s brain.
The man could feel the sharp object touching his arms but not his legs.
Suggest what this information could tell the doctors about the damage to the man’s spinal cord.
Explain your answer.