Motor unit Flashcards
What is resting potential
Where there is lower charge inside the neurone than outside
What is action potential?
The electrical impulse carried down the axon
What is a neurotransmitter
Chemical transmitters which diffuse across a synapse binding to receptors to initiate muscular contraction
What is acetyl choline
The neurotransmitter released at the neuromuscular junction and diffuses across the synapse
What is the all or nothing law
If the AP threshold is reached, all the muscle fibres in the motor unit are initiated. If the AP threshold isn’t reached then none of the muscle fibres are initiated
Motor unit
A motor neurone plus all the muscle fibres it initiates
Neurone
A type of nerve cell
Axon
Carries the AP from the cell body to the neuromuscular junction
Neuromuscular junction
Where the motor neurone communicates with the muscle fibres across the synapse
Synapse
The space between the neuromuscular junction and the skeletal muscle
Motor End Plate
Area of muscle fibre which establishes synaptic contact with the motor neurone
