Muscular System Flashcards
Movement
Contraction pulls on insertion where a tendon attaches to a bone or other tissue
Posture
By producing muscle tone with continuous contractions to stabilize joints
Protection
Muscles support the walls of the abdominopelvic cavity and protectthe visceral organs ex:rectus abdominus, transverse abdominus protect the intestines
Thermogenesis
Metabolism can be regulated to produce heat and warm the body temperature
What are the functions of the muscular system
Movement, posture, protection and thermogenesis
What are the general functions of muscle tissue
excitability and contractility
Excitability
Muscles respond to stimuli
Ex:skeletal muscles stimulus comes from a motor neuron
Contractility
Muscles can shorten when stimulated
Cardiac muscle structure and location
Found in the muscular wall of the heart (myocardium), branching striated cells called cardiomyocytes have a central round nucleus and form cell junctions called intercalated disks that contain desmosomes and gap junctions.
Striations
alternating light and dark bands (stripes)
Cardiac muscle function
Contraction is involuntary, stimulated by an internal pacemaker of the heart, regulated by autonomic nervous system and endocrine system
Smooth muscle structure and location
Found in the walls of hollow organs, Spindle shaped (fusiform) cells with a central nucleus and no striations
Smooth muscles function
Contraction is involuntary, regulated by the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system
Skeletal muscle structure and location
Found attached to skeleton through tendons (dense regular CT), Long striated cells called fibers that contain multiple nuclei
Fascicle
Bundle of skeletal muscle fibers
Aponeurosis
Tendon that forms a thick flattened sheet ex:epicranial aponeurosis
Origin
Location where tendon attaches to bone that remains stationary during the action produced by contraction of that skeletal muscle
Insertion
attachment that moves during the action produced by contraction
Epimysium
Superficial covering of fibrous CT that encloses the skeletal muscle organ and connects to tendon
Perimysium
Fibrous CT covering bundles of muscle fibers called fascicles
Endomysium
Areolar CT covering individual fibers within a fascicle
Sarcolemma
Plasma membrane of muscle fiber