Neuromuscular Fundamentals & Skeletal Anatomy Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering neuromuscular fundamentals, muscle tissue properties, fiber arrangements, types of muscle contractions, and skeletal anatomical landmarks.

Aggregate Muscle Action

The cooperative action of muscles working in groups rather than independently to achieve a given joint motion.

Parallel Muscle

A muscle with fibers arranged parallel to its length, producing a greater range of movement than a similar-sized muscle with pennate arrangement.

Flat Muscle

A thin and broad parallel muscle originating from broad, fibrous, sheet-like aponeuroses, allowing forces to spread over a broad area.

Fusiform Muscle

A spindle-shaped parallel muscle with a central belly that tapers to tendons on each end, focusing power onto small, bony targets.

Strap Muscle

A parallel muscle with a uniform diameter and long parallel fibers that focuses power onto small, bony targets.

Radiate Muscle

A fan-shaped, triangular, or convergent muscle that originates on broad aponeuroses and converges onto a tendon, combining flat and fusiform arrangements.

Sphincter Muscle

A circular, technically endless strap muscle that surrounds a body opening and functions to close it upon contraction.

Pennate Muscle

A muscle with shorter fibers arranged obliquely to its tendon in a feather-like pattern, increasing cross-sectional area and force exertion capacity.

Unipennate Muscle

A pennate muscle whose fibers run obliquely from a tendon on one side only.

Bipennate Muscle

A pennate muscle whose fibers run obliquely on both sides from a central tendon.

Multipennate Muscle

A pennate muscle containing several tendons with fibers running diagonally between them.

Irritability

The property of muscle tissue being sensitive or responsive to chemical, electrical, or mechanical stimuli; also called excitability.

Contractility

The ability of muscle tissue to contract and develop tension or internal force against resistance when stimulated.

Extensibility

The ability of muscle tissue to be passively stretched beyond its normal resting length.

Elasticity

The ability of muscle tissue to return to its original length following stretching.

Intrinsic Muscle

A muscle pertaining to or belonging solely to the specific body part upon which it acts.

Extrinsic Muscle

A muscle that originates outside of (proximal to) the body part upon which it acts.

Action

The specific movement of a joint resulting from a concentric contraction of a muscle crossing that joint.

Innervation

The segment of the nervous system responsible for providing a stimulus to muscle fibers within a specific muscle or muscle portion.

Amplitude

The range of muscle fiber length between maximal and minimal lengthening.

Gaster

The central, fleshy, contractile portion of a muscle that increases in diameter as it contracts; also known as the belly or body.

Tendon

Fibrous connective tissue, often cordlike in appearance, connecting muscles to bones and other structures.

Aponeurosis

A tendinous expansion of dense fibrous connective tissue that is sheet- or ribbonlike, serving to bind muscles together or connect muscle to bone.

Fascia

A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue that envelopes, separates, or binds together body structures such as muscles and organs.

Retinaculum

A band of fascial tissue around joints like the wrist and ankle that retains tendons close to the body.

Origin

The proximal structural attachment of a muscle (closest to midline), functionally considered the least movable part.

Insertion

The distal structural attachment of a muscle (farthest from midline), functionally considered the most movable part.

Isometric Contraction

A static muscle contraction where tension is developed within the muscle while joint angles remain constant.

Isotonic Contraction

A dynamic muscle contraction involving tension development that causes or controls joint movement, changing joint angles.

Concentric Contraction

An isotonic contraction where the muscle develops sufficient tension to overcome resistance and shorten, causing movement against gravity or resistance.

Eccentric Contraction

An isotonic muscle action where the muscle lengthens under tension to control the descent of a resistance.

Passive Movement

Joint movement occurring without muscle contraction, caused solely by external forces such as gravity or outside resistance.

Thorax Skeleton

The bony thoracic cage consisting of sternum (manubrium, body, xiphoid process), costal cartilage, true ribs, false ribs, and floating ribs.

Scapula

The shoulder blade bone, featuring landmarks such as the spine, supraspinous fossa, infraspinous fossa, subscapular fossa, glenoid fossa, acromion process, and coracoid process.

Humerus

The upper arm bone, featuring landmarks including the head, greater tubercle, lesser tubercle, intertubercular groove, deltoid tuberosity, capitulum, trochlea, epicondyles, and fossae.

Radius and Ulna

The two bones of the forearm; the radius features the head, neck, radial tuberosity, and styloid process, while the ulna features the olecranon process, coronoid process, and trochlear notch.

Hand Skeleton

The bone structure of the hand, composed of 8 carpal bones, 5 metacarpals (numbered 1 lateral to 5 medial), and 14 phalanges.

Vertebral Column

The flexible column consisting of 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, and 5 lumbar vertebrae, as well as the sacrum (5 fused) and coccyx (4 fused).

Pelvic Girdle

The bony pelvis formed by the ilium, ischium, and pubis, featuring the acetabulum, iliac crest, obturator foramen, and symphysis pubis.

Femur

The thigh bone, featuring landmarks including the head, neck, greater and lesser trochanters, linea aspera, and condyles.

Tibia and Fibula

The bones of the lower leg; the tibia is the medial weight-bearing bone with condyles and medial malleolus, while the fibula is lateral with a head and lateral malleolus.

Foot Skeleton

The bone structure of the foot, containing 7 tarsal bones (talus, calcaneus, navicular, cuboid, three cuneiforms), 5 metatarsals, and phalanges.