Part IV: Endocrine Glands. The Nervous System. Senses.

Read the text about the endocrine and the nervous systems. Find the passage which contains the description of the brain. Read and translate the passage.

     There are two organ systems - the nervous system and the endocrines - which coordinate the activities of all others. Thus the thyroid gland stimulates the metabolism of all bodily parts. The adrenal medulla mobilizes the activities of many organ systems in case of the emergency. And the adrenal cortex exercises control over many body functions, so important that its removal results in failure of the functions and the death of an animal.

     Endocrine glands or glands of internal secretion are ductless glands, that is, they empty their secretion - chemical substances called hormones - directly into the blood stream. Many of hormones affect metabolism and the activity of the cardiovascular and other systems. The activities endocrine glands are regulated by the nervous system, particularly through the hypophysis. It is the gland which consists of an anterior lobe, an intermediate part and a posterior lobe. Anterior lobe is necessary for proper growth to adult stature, for normal development and function of the reproductive system and for control the activities of other endocrine glands. The hypophysis is connected with the hypothalamus, which secretes special substances to regulate the secretion of the hypophysical hormones.

   The nervous system is made up of the nerve cells with their fibers. Nerves lead from the spinal cord or from the brain to each part of the body. Then they lead from each part of the body back to the brain or spinal cord. The brain is made up of three parts. The cerebrum sits like a cap on the cerebellum. And the medulla is that long portion connecting the brain with the spinal cord. The cerebrum has certain parts that do certain work. Studying human beings with accidental injuries of brains helped scientists to get information about these areas. Many experiments have shown that the brain is the centre of feeling and understanding. The nerve cells in the brain can be “put to sleep” with ether or other anesthetics.

   Sense organs are specialized endings of the sensory division of the peripheral nerves. We are commonly thought to possess five senses. Actually, there are many more. We may classify them as follows: 1) the cutaneous senses - touch, heat, cold and pain; 2) the deeper senses - pressure and muscle sense; 3) the internal senses, or senses from the internal organs of the body; 4) the special senses, or those in which the receptors lie in special organs - sight, hearing, equilibrium, taste and smell; and finally 5) the general body senses - hunger, thirst, fatigue, sexual sensation, etc.

Vocabulary

 

Endocrine, thyroid gland, adrenal medulla, adrenal cortex, emergency, ductless, internal secretion, hormone, hypophysis, stature, reproductive, hypothalamus, cerebrum, cerebellum, sense, cutaneous, sight, equilibrium, taste, smell, thirst, fatigue.

Task

I. Translate from English

1. Thus the thyroid gland stimulates metabolism.

2. Hormones affect metabolism and the function of the cardiovascular system.

3. The functions of the endocrine glands are interconnected.

4. The hormones either stimulate or depress the activity of various organs.

5. The activities of endocrine glands are regulated by the nervous system.

6. The hypophysis is believed to be the chief endocrine gland.

7. Cells need oxygen to carry metabolic processes.

8. There are more senses than we commonly thought to possess.

9. The spinal cord and the brain regulate motor activity.

10.  The brain is the primary centre for regulating and coordinating body activities.

11. Man receives his information concerning the outside world through his senses organs.

12. We know of the position of an arm or leg without looking at it.

13. The conditioned reflexes discovered by I.P. Pavlov are the mechanism through which the body responds to the outside world in avoiding injury, obtaining food and performing many more complex acts.

14.  The brain has many different parts controlling different aspects of the body functions.

15. The cerebellum is located beneath the posterior part of the cerebrum, its function being to aid in the coordination of voluntary movements and to maintain balance and muscular tone.

16. Professor told us about diagnosing the hypophysis disfunctions.

17. if you ascend in the atmosphere as in flying an airplane, climbing a high mountain, or riding a fast elevator, the atmospheric pressure, and that in the outer ear, will drop, while that in the middle ear remains the same.

18. All sensations such as touch, pain and temperature are lost if cerebral hemispheres are destroyed.

 

II. Translate from Russian

a) 1. Нервная и эндокринная системы координируют и стимулируют деятельность организма.

2. Снижение функции или понижение активности эндокринных желез вызывает изменения в работе всего организма.

3. Деятельность всех эндокринных желез взаимосвязана и регулируется гипофизом.

4. Нервная система контролирует работу эндокринных желез.

 

b)

 

 

 

III. Write down the organs that are familiar to you.

 

IV. Determine the class of a sense present in the following situations.

1. It’s rather a problem to walk along the roads in winter as they are partly covered with ice.

2. I won’t be to eat even a piece, my stomach is full.

3. I hate camping - wherever you go there is always great amount of mosquitoes.

4. I need to sleep.

5. I feel short of breath and I’m constantly coughing.

 

 

V. Look at the two brains. You see what parts of the brains control different activities. Read the titles and speak about the brain a) of a woman; b) of a cat.

a)

b)