Human Anatomy Quiz 4 (45-52)

Muscle Tissue

• Specialized soft tissue made of long, slender cells that can shorten or contract to create movement in the body

• 3 types: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, smooth muscle

Skeletal Muscle

• Long, cylindrical, multinucleate (2+ nuclei per cell), striated (banded appearance)

• Function: muscles contract, pull on bones or skin & cause body movements

• Location: attached to skeleton

• Feature: voluntary control

Cardiac Muscle

• Striated, uninucleated (1 nucleus), branching cells (fit at junctions called intercalated discs)

• Function: propel blood through blood vessels to all parts of body

• Location: walls of the heart

• Feature: involuntary control

Intercalated Discs

• In the branching cells of cardiac muscles

• Cellular junctions that connect adjacent heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) end-to-end

Smooth Muscle

• No visible striations, 1 central nucleus, spindle-shaped (pointed ends)

• Function: propel substances through hollow organs

• Location: walls of organs (stomach, bladder, uterus, blood vessels)

• Features: involuntary control, contracts slowly, peristalsis (wavelike motion that moves food through SI)

Nervous Tissue

• Main components of nervous tissue

• Cell types: neurons, glia

• Structure: neuron = dendrite + cell body + axon

• Function: regulates and controls body functions

• Location: brain, spinal cord, nerves

Neurons

• In the nervous system

• Function: responds to stimuli, transmits electrical impulses

Neuroglia (other cells)

• In the nervous system

• Function: supports, insulates, protects neurons