MORS 113: Muscle Facts (Little Blue Book) Flashcards
Refers to the study of the muscular system.
Myology
- Make up about 45% of body weight.
- Responsible for imparting movement to body parts.
- Do this through the ability to contract (shorten in length).
Muscles
The ability to contract and cause movement.
Contractility
Have the ability to convert chemical energy derived from digested food products into mechanical energy, which in turn creates the contractions and movement associated with muscles.
Muscle Cells
May only be 1/2 to 1/3 it’s normal length when at rest.
A Fully Contracted Muscle
Specialized nerve cells (neurons) that transmit stimuli to muscle cells.
- Muscles do not contract on their own, they need these.
Motor Neurons
The combination of a motor neuron and the group of muscle cells which it stimulates.
Motor Unit
Generally, muscles do not act individually to create movement of a body part, but function:
In Coordination With Other Muscles
There is often one muscle which is largely responsible for a desired action, and it is referred to as this.
Prime Mover (Agonist)
Has the opposite effect of the prime mover.
Antagonist
In addition to creating movement, muscles also enable to body to:
Maintain Its Posture
Partial muscular contraction that does not create movement, but simply allows for a relatively constant amount of tension in a muscle so that it can hold a body part in its proper position.
Tonic Contraction
Besides creating movement and maintaing posture, muscles are also responsible for:
Heat Production in The Body
- Skeletal
- Smooth
- Cardiac
Three Basic Categories of Muscle Tissue
Makes up the greatest share of the muscular tissue in the human body.
- Attaches to the bones of the skeleton and creates movement by pulling these bones.
Skeletal Muscle (Voluntary, Striated)
Skeletal muscle is also known as this because it can be made to contract by conscious control.
Voluntary
Skeletal muscle is also called this because under a microscope, this type of muscle is seen to contain dark colored stripes.
Striated
Found in various organs and functions “automatically.”
- Microscopically, does not have stripes (striations)
- Found in most of the viscera - such as the stomach and intestines.
Smooth Muscle (Involuntary, Visceral, Non-Striated)
The kind of muscle found in the heart.
- Has some of the characteristics found in the other two kinds of muscles.
- Is striated and involuntary
- Forms branches, is functionally arranged differently so that it can keep the heart beating in a rythmic fashion.
Cardiac Muscle
Small, dense cords of connective tissue that are responsible for attaching muscle to bone (or muscles to muscles in some cases).
- Often cross over an articulation in order to pull on the bones forming the joint, thus bringing them toward each other.
Tendons