What is an analogy for the endocrine system?

Answer 1

The best way to compare the nervous system and the endocrine system is to compare the characteristics of speed, specificity and plasticity (ability to respond and change permanently, particularly with respect to strength and speed.) The nervous system uses rapid electrical signals along nerve axons. Chemical signals are used between nerve cells at synapses. Although this chemical transmission is slower than electrical transmission, synapses are important in transmission between nerve cells. The endocrine system uses hormones, which are secreted into and transported to their target cells via the circulation of blood. Due to the delay of circulation, hormonal responses are generally slower than nervous response. Both systems involve diffusion (either diffusion out of blood and into tissue or diffusion across a synapse). However, the diffusion distances in synapses is considerably smaller in nervous communication so further increasing its speed over hormonal communication. The nervous system is not considered as specific as the endocrine system, with the nervous system supplying group of tissues or organs. For example, one motor neurone induces and effect of several muscle fibers. Organs such as skeletal muscle, smooth muscles and glands are targeted individually. Due to receptor sites on target cells, the endocrine system is able to be very specific is binding specifically to the appropriate cells. The nervous system is more associated with plasticity. Synaptic plasticity results in changes in the quantity of neurotransmitter released and how effectively the postsynaptic cells respond to the neurotransmitter. Although the effects of hormones are generally more permanent, the system is considered more elastic than plastic (changing but then returning to the original.) In conclusion, the body often combines the speed of the nervous system with the specificity of the endocrine system to create the neuroendocrine system. Neuroendocrine cells receive neurally transmitted information and release hormones in response which is carried via blood the the target cells. The neuroendocrine system is mainly organised by the hypothalamus.

Answer 2

Telephones in the big building- They pass huge amounts of complex information from place to place.....

Answer 3

The endocrine system can be compared to a messaging system in a company where hormones act as messengers traveling through the bloodstream to different organs to regulate functions.

Answer 4

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