Muscle Vocabulary

Question 1

Fascia

Answer 1

Sheet of dense connective tissue that separates individual muscles and helps hold them in position.

Question 2

Epimysium

Answer 2

Sheath of connective tissue, deep to the fascia, surrounding a skeletal muscle.

Question 3

Perimysium

Answer 3

Sheath of connective tissue that encloses a bundle of skeletal muscle fibers (encloses a fascicle)

Question 4

Fascicles

Answer 4

Small bundle of skeletal muscle fibers. A fasciculus pl., fascicles, fasciculi

Question 5

Aponeurosis

Answer 5

Sheet of connective tissue that attaches muscles to bone, skin, or to the covering of adjacent muscles.

Question 6

Myofibrils

Answer 6

Contractile fiber in striated muscle cells

Question 7

Myosin

Answer 7

Protein in a muscle fiber that forms the thick filaments that slide between thin filaments of the protein actin, contracting muscle fibers

Question 8

Actin

Answer 8

Protein in a muscle fiber that forms the thin filaments that slide between thick filaments of the protein myosin, contracting muscle fibers.

Question 9

Sarcomere

Answer 9

Structural unit of a myofibril and the functional unit of muscle contraction.

Question 10

Sarcoplasmic reticulum

Answer 10

Membranous network of channels and tubules within a muscle fiber, corresponding to the endoplasmic reticulum of other cells

Question 11

Transverse tubules

Answer 11

Any of several membranous channels that extend deep into the cell from a muscle fiber membrane

Question 12

Cisterna

Answer 12

Enlarged portion of the sarcoplasmic reticulum near the actin and myosin filaments of a striated muscle fiber; pl., cisternae

Question 13

Synapse

Answer 13

Functional connection between the axon terminal of a neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another neuron or the membrane of another cell type

Question 14

Neurotransmitters

Answer 14

Chemical than an axon secretes at a synapse that stimulates or inhibits an effector (muscle or gland) or other neuron.

Question 15

Neuromuscular Junction

Answer 15

Synapse between a motor neuron and skeletal muscle fiber.

Question 16

Motor end plate

Answer 16

Specialized part of a muscle fiber membrane at a neuromuscular junction.

Question 17

Synaptic cleft

Answer 17

A narrow extracellular space between two cells at a synapse.

Question 18

Slidong filament model

Answer 18

The method of muscle contraction in which the actin and myosin filaments slide over each other to shorten the sarcomere.

Question 19

ATPase

Answer 19

Enzyme that transfers the energy stored in the terminal phosphate bonds of ATP molecules so it can be used by the cell

Question 20

Acetylcholine

Answer 20

(ACh) Type of neurotransmitter, which is a chemical secreted into the synaptic clefts at the axon ends of neurons.

Question 21

Acetylcholinesterase

Answer 21

Enzyme that catalyzes breakdown of acetylcholine

Question 22

Creatine phosphate

Answer 22

Molecule in muscle that store energy

Question 23

Hemoglobin

Answer 23

Oxygen carrying protein in red blood cells

Question 24

Myoglobin

Answer 24

Oxygen storing protein in muscle tissue

Question 25

Lactic acid

Answer 25

Organic compound formed from pyruvic acid in the anaerobic pathway of cellular respiration

Question 26

Oxygen debt

Answer 26

The amount of oxygen that liver cells require, after aerobic exercise, to convert the accumulated lactate into glucose, plus the amount muscle cells require to restore ATP and creatine phosphate to their original concentrations and to return blood and tissue oxygen levels to normal

Question 27

Twitch

Answer 27

Single contraction of a muscle fiber followed by relaxation

Question 28

Latent Period

Answer 28

Time between application of a stimulus and the beginning of a response in a muscle fiber

Question 29

Summation

Answer 29

Increase force of contraction by a skeletal muscle fiber when a twitch occurs before the previous twitch relaxes

Question 30

Complete Tetanic Contraction

Answer 30

Continuous, forceful muscular contraction without relaxation.

Question 31

Motor unit

Answer 31

A motor neuron and the muscle fibers that it controls

Question 32

Recruitment

Answer 32

Increase in the number of motor units taking part in a muscle contraction

Question 33

Muscle Tone

Answer 33

Ongoing low-level contraction of some fibers in otherwise resting skeletal muscle.

Question 34

Peristalsis

Answer 34

Rhythmic waves of muscular contraction in the walls of certain tubular organs

Question 35

Intercalated Discs

Answer 35

Connection between cardiac muscle cells

Question 36

Origin

Answer 36

End of a muscle that attaches to a relatively immovable part

Question 37

Insertion

Answer 37

End of a muscle attached to a movable part

Question 38

Agonist

Answer 38

A muscle that causes a particular movement

Question 39

Antagonist

Answer 39

Muscle that opposes a particular movement

Question 40

Prime Mover

Answer 40

Muscle that provides most of a particular body movement.Also called an agonist.