Hunar Sandhu
Investigate the rate of nerve impulse: Introduction: The nervous system is composed of cells called ne urons. It is responsible for coordinating actions and transmitting signals between different parts of the body. These cells can carry messages at high speeds in the form of electrical impulses (Ward, William, and Alan Damon) . There are two main parts of our nervous system: s ystem:
The central nervous system, which consists of the brain and the spinal cord Peripheral nervous system that connects all parts of the body to the central nervous system
Reaction time is way of measuring the quickness of an organism. Quickness refers to the response one gives to some sort of stimulus. Reflex Ref lex arc is the nerve pathway that the body undertakes. It is a very fast, automatic response. It has three main steps:
A sensory neuron that takes in information and translates it to an electrical impulse. This impulse gets sent to the central nervous system Relay neurons act as process centres and determine the right response to the stimulus. These neurons are located in the central nervous system A motor neuron is a neuron that takes the response and sends it to the effectors which results in a specific response
(IvyRose Holistic.)
There are a lot of factors that can affect affect someone’s rate of reaction. The reaction time can be accelerated or decelerated decelerate d according to the environment and atmosphere you have been exposed to. Factors such as gender, being left or right handed and age can all affect reaction rates. As a person gets older, the muscle movement is slowed and the muscles do not respond as quickly as they did (Somoski, Nick). To examine a factor, an experiment will be conducted on whether age will affect one’s reaction rate under controlled environment. This experiment will be testing the visual reaction time. Independent Variable: The age of the participants. (5 within these age groups: 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70) Dependent Variable: The reaction rate of the participants.
Hunar Sandhu
Control Variables Left or Right handed
Effect on results Research shows that left handed people tend to have a slightly faster reaction rate.
Gender of participants
Research shows that males tend to have a slightly faster reaction rate that females. The more tired the person is, slower their reaction rate tends to be.
Amount of sleep
Temperature of the room
Health of participants
How they will be controlled All participants will be right handed in order to have no other variables other than age affecting the results. All participants will be males in order to have fair results.
Make sure that the participants have had 7 or more hours of sleep so they are not tired The temperature can have The temperature will be some effect on the reaction tested with a thermometer rate as warmer temperature before each participant makes the person sleepier. begins the activity. Any sickness or illness can Make sure that all have an effect on the reaction participants are healthy and rate of the participant. The do not have any sickness or sickness can slow the illness. reaction rate significantly.
Focused Question: How will age have an effect on the participants’ reaction rate in a reaction based activity. Hypothesis: Higher the age of the participants, slower the reaction rate. A part of the brain called the corpus callosum is a group of neural fibers that c onnects the left and right side. With age, the connection becomes weaker (Somoski, Nick) . This is the major reason why, with age, the reaction rate deteriorates. Materials:
30 cm ruler 30 participants, 5 within these age groups : 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70 (All should be right handed males, with more than 7 hours of sleep) A table/bench and a chair A room with constant temperature for all the participants A pen and a table of results Thermometer
Hunar Sandhu
Method:
1. Subject 1 enters the room. 2. Subject 1 sits on a chair at a table, with their right hand over the edge. 3. Hold the ruler at the 30 cm mark so that the 0 cm end is just at the participant’s index finger. 4. Tell the participant that when you release the ruler they have to grab it as fast as possible. Do not make any sounds or gestures when you are releasing the ruler, this ensures that the participant has reacted to the visual stimulus of seeing the ruler being released. Record the centimetre mark. 5. Repeat the experiment five more times. 6. Repeat steps 1-5 for all the participants.
References:
Ward, William, and Alan Damon. Pearson Baccalaureate: Higher Level (plus Standard Level Options) : Biology Developed Specifically for the Ib Diploma. Harlow, [England: Pearson Education, 2007. Print. "Experiment: How Fast Your Brain Reacts To Stimuli." Experiment: How Fast Your Brain Reacts To Stimuli. Backyard Brains, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Somoski, Nick. "Factors That Affect Reaction Time." By Nick Somoski. Science360, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. "The Pathway of a Nerve Impulse." The Pathway of a Nerve Impulse. IvyRose Holistic, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
