The endocrine and nervous system have a lot in common, but also are different in many ways. Both systems rely on releasing chemicals into the body. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters. The nervous and endocrine systems both release the some of the same neurotransmitters. For example both systems release epinephrine and norepinephrine. Each system regulates organ systems, tissues, and the activities of cells. Also both systems react to a process called homeostasis. Differences between the systems are that the nervous system controls muscle movements, heartbeats, digestion, memory and speech. In addition the endocrine system controls blood glucose and hydration levels and coordinates sexual maturity and sperm and egg production. Another big difference is that the nervous system acts through electrical impulses while the endocrine system releases hormones from glands.
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Both systems do rely on releasing chemicals (to communicate); for the nervous system the chemicals are neurotransmitters (transmitted over synapses) and for the endocrine system they are hormones (transmitted through the bloodstream).What controls what is a tricky topic, because the endocrine system itself is controlled somewhat by the nervous system ("Communication between the nervous and endocrine systems takes place through the hypothalamus and its connection with the pituitary gland" (72)). So this was a tricky question because it can be confusing to decide how to separate the two, I guess you have to analyze them as separate areas of anatomy (although linked). In which case another important difference to mention is that the structures/areas concerning the endocrine system such as glands and bloodstream communicate more slowly, whereas those concerning the nervous system communicate faster via action potentials and synapses.
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This is a nice summary of the similarities and difference between the endocrine and nervous systems. What source did you use to summarize from? It is important to give informal credit to your source(s) in your post. Also, incorporating information learned in the video would add to the overall quality of your response along with any other outside resources that you found.
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Great discussion. I never realized how many similarities between the endocrine and nervous systems exist. Both systems seem to be very global, interacting very strongly with the other systems. I would still support the argument that the neural system is the main overall system since the hypothalamus (I'm pretty sure) provides the neural link to the endocrine system.
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I wouldn't put one system over the other, they both have equal purpose and communicate in both directions with each other. You are correct that the hypothalamus communicates via the pituitary gland to the endocrine system.