Digestive System Motility Notes

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to digestive motility from the provided lecture notes.

Proximal region of the stomach

The storage area of the stomach that has weak continuous contractions to gently propel material into the distal stomach.

Distal region of the stomach

The region responsible for grinding and sieving food, featuring intense slow-wave activity and frequent muscular contractions.

Peristalsis

Involuntary muscular contractions that move food through the gastric and intestinal tracts.

Adaptive relaxation

The major muscular reflex in the proximal stomach where relaxed muscles accommodate food as it enters.

Ileocecal sphincter

The junction between the small intestine and colon that prevents retrograde movement of colonic contents into the ileum.

Migrating motility complex (MMC)

Powerful waves of peristaltic contractions during the inter-digestive phase that clear undigested material from the small intestine.

Retropulsion

A type of peristaltic contraction in the colon that moves contents toward the oral end, promoting intense mixing.

Rectosphincteric reflex

The reflex that relaxes the internal anal sphincter followed by peristaltic contractions in the rectum during defecation.

Antiperistaltic motility

Movement in the duodenum opposite to normal peristalsis, involved in the vomiting reflex.

Vagal stimulation

Nerve activity from the vagus nerve that influences gastric motility and stimulates peristalsis in the distal stomach.

Segmentation

Localized contractions in the small intestine that mix digestive contents, also known as non-propulsive motility.

Sphincter

Muscular structures that regulate the passage of materials between different sections of the digestive tract.