Through which pathway do hormones travel to reach distant tissues?

• A. Nerve impulses
• B. Bloodstream
• C. Synaptic gaps
• D. Lymphatic system

Answer: (B)

Hormones travel through the bloodstream to reach distant tissues. After endocrine glands release them into the blood, these chemical messengers circulate throughout the body and bind to specific receptors on target cells far from where they were released, producing widespread or localized effects that can last longer than neural signals. This circulatory route allows coordination across organs that aren’t directly connected.

Nerve impulses, by contrast, are electrical signals that move quickly along neurons to nearby targets, not through the blood to distant sites. Synaptic gaps are the sites of rapid neural communication between neurons, not the means by which hormones reach distant tissues. The lymphatic system helps with immune function and fluid balance and is not the primary pathway for hormonal signaling to distant organs.