Human Anatomy and Physiology: Muscles and Muscle Tissue

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts related to muscles and muscle tissue, helping students prepare for examination.

Muscle Tissue

The specialized tissue that enables movement in the body, composed of muscle fibers.

Skeletal Muscle

Striated muscle tissue under voluntary control, attached to bones and responsible for movement.

Cardiac Muscle

Striated muscle tissue unique to the heart, involuntary and responsible for pumping blood.

Smooth Muscle

Non-striated, involuntary muscle found in the walls of hollow organs.

Excitability

The ability of muscle cells to receive and respond to stimuli.

Contractility

The ability of muscle tissue to shorten forcibly when stimulated.

Extensibility

The ability of muscle tissue to be stretched.

Elasticity

The ability of muscle tissue to recoil to its resting length.

Neuromuscular Junction

The synapse or junction where a motor neuron communicates with a muscle fiber.

Action Potential (AP)

A brief change in electrical potential across a cell membrane that occurs when a neuron fires.

Calcium Ions (Ca2+)

Ions that play a crucial role in muscle contraction by binding to proteins within muscle cells.

Sliding Filament Model

The explanation of how muscles contract through the sliding movement of actin and myosin filaments.

Cross Bridge Cycling

The process of myosin heads pulling thin filaments toward the center of the sarcomere during contraction.

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)

The primary energy carrier in all living organisms, necessary for muscle contraction.

Creatine Phosphate

A molecule in muscle cells that donates phosphate to ADP to regenerate ATP during short bursts of activity.

Glycolysis

The metabolic process that converts glucose into pyruvic acid, generating a small amount of ATP.

Aerobic Respiration

A process of producing cellular energy involving oxygen, resulting in ATP generation from glucose.

Myofibrils

Long, threadlike structures within a muscle fiber that are composed of sarcomeres.

T Tubules

Deep invaginations of the sarcolemma that allow electrical impulses to penetrate the muscle fiber.

Sarcoplasmic Reticulum (SR)

A specialized smooth endoplasmic reticulum in muscle cells that stores calcium ions.

Excitation-Contraction Coupling

The sequence of events by which an action potential leads to muscle contraction.

Motor Unit

A motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it innervates.

Muscle Twitch

The smallest contraction resulting from a muscle fiber’s response to a single action potential.

Isotonic Contraction

A type of muscle contraction in which the muscle changes length, resulting in movement.

Isometric Contraction

A type of muscle contraction in which the muscle remains the same length despite tension.

Muscle Tone

The constant, slightly contracted state of all muscles that provides firmness and readiness to respond.