The role of the nervous system

The role of the nervous system in behaviour. Introduction. The nervous system is the fundamental control system for all behaviour. It is responsible for receiving incoming information from the surroundings, collating and processing it and then causing a relevant behavioural response. For an animal to survive it must be able to respond differing internal as well as external states and parts of the body must be able to act in a co-ordinated fashion to illicit …

…control and modify behaviour directly and indirectly through responses effected by efferent nerves synapsing on motor / other units (Fig 6). Hence the role of the nervous system in an animal’s behaviour is to initiate, modify control and effect behaviours that are pertinent to the current situation and to an internal schedule. Bibliography. Randal, Burggren & French, (1997); Animal Physiology – Mechanisms and Adaptations. McFarland D., (1985); Animal Behaviour. Maning, A and Dawkins, M. S., (1998); An Introduction to Animal Behaviour.