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NEET Neural Control and Coordination: 5 practice MCQs

By the PrepMatic team · Updated 9 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

Neural Control and Coordination is the Class 11 Biology chapter on how neurons carry impulses and how the brain and spinal cord organise the body's responses. The five MCQs below test the sodium-potassium pump, conduction in myelinated fibres, the hypothalamus, the direction of sensory impulses and the ion that causes depolarisation.

What this chapter covers in the NEET syllabus

This chapter belongs to the NMC unit Human Physiology, and it is the Class 11 NCERT chapter of the same name. The topics are:

• The neuron as the structural and functional unit, and the types of neurons.
• Generation and conduction of a nerve impulse: resting potential, depolarisation, repolarisation and the action potential.
• Transmission of impulses across synapses (electrical and chemical).
• The human neural system: the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral and visceral nervous systems.
• The reflex action and the reflex arc.

NCERT also includes the sense organs (eye and ear). Check the NMC syllabus PDF to see whether they are currently listed before you spend time on them.

Five practice MCQs on Neural Control and Coordination

Question 1

The sodium-potassium pump in a neuron transports:

• A. 2 Na⁺ out and 3 K⁺ in
• B. 3 Na⁺ in and 2 K⁺ out
• C. 1 Na⁺ out and 1 K⁺ in
• D. 3 Na⁺ out and 2 K⁺ in

Question 2

In a myelinated nerve fibre, the nerve impulse is generated at successive:

• A. nodes of Ranvier
• B. points along the myelin sheath
• C. cell body regions
• D. synaptic knobs

Question 3

The part of the brain that controls body temperature, hunger and thirst is the:

• A. cerebellum
• B. medulla oblongata
• C. hypothalamus
• D. thalamus

Question 4

Afferent (sensory) neurons carry impulses from:

• A. the CNS to effector organs
• B. receptors to the CNS
• C. one motor neuron to another
• D. the CNS to glands only

Question 5

During depolarisation of a neuron, there is a rapid influx of:

• A. K⁺
• B. Na⁺
• C. Cl⁻
• D. Ca²⁺

Answers and explanations

1. D. The Na⁺-K⁺ pump uses ATP to move 3 Na⁺ out of the cell for every 2 K⁺ moved in. This helps maintain the resting potential, with the outside positive and the inside negative.
2. A. Myelin insulates the axon, and ion exchange can occur only at the nodes of Ranvier where the axon is exposed. So the action potential jumps from node to node, which is called saltatory conduction. It is faster and uses less energy than conduction in unmyelinated fibres.
3. C. The hypothalamus, part of the forebrain, contains centres that control body temperature, hunger and thirst, and it also controls the pituitary gland. The cerebellum coordinates balance and movement, and the medulla controls vital reflexes like respiration and heart rate.
4. B. Afferent neurons carry sensory information from receptors to the central nervous system. Efferent (motor) neurons carry the response from the CNS to the effector, a muscle or a gland.
5. B. When a stimulus is applied, the membrane becomes highly permeable to Na⁺. A rapid influx of Na⁺ reverses the polarity at that site (inside positive, outside negative), which is depolarisation. K⁺ then leaves to restore the resting state, which is repolarisation.

How to prepare Neural Control and Coordination

• Draw the neuron and an action potential graph. Label dendrites, cell body, axon, myelin, node of Ranvier and axon terminals. On the graph mark the resting potential, depolarisation, repolarisation and the return to rest, and what ions flow at each phase.
• Make a brain table: forebrain (cerebrum, thalamus, hypothalamus), midbrain, hindbrain (pons, cerebellum, medulla), with the main function of each part. Many questions ask which part controls which function.
• Compare electrical and chemical synapses, and learn the sequence at a chemical synapse: arrival of the impulse, release of neurotransmitter from vesicles, binding to receptors on the post-synaptic membrane, and a new potential.
• Understand reflex action: a reflex arc with a receptor, sensory neuron, interneuron in the spinal cord, motor neuron and effector. Know the difference between voluntary and involuntary responses.
• Separate the divisions of the nervous system: CNS versus PNS, somatic versus autonomic, and sympathetic versus parasympathetic.

This chapter works best through diagrams. Check the NEET Biology preparation guide for scheduling, and NCERT for NEET for reading line by line.

Take a full Neural Control test on PrepMatic

Diagram-based chapters like this one need revisiting, and PrepMatic can send study reminders by browser notification or email to bring you back to them. Topic tests (about 15 questions in 30 minutes) are scored with NEET's negative marking, and the free Basic plan includes them. More chapters are on the practice hub.

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