BIOL 2010 A&P 1 Study Guide

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture notes on muscular and nervous tissue, including muscle characteristics, neuron properties, and spinal cord functions.

What are the universal characteristics of muscle tissue?

Muscle tissue is excitable, contractible, extensible, and elastic.

What is the difference between extensibility and elasticity?

Extensibility is the ability to be stretched, while elasticity is the ability to return to original shape.

What does it mean that skeletal muscle is 'voluntary' and 'striated'?

'Voluntary' means it is controlled consciously, and 'striated' refers to its striped appearance due to the arrangement of myofilaments.

What are the three connective tissue wrappings used in skeletal muscle?

Endomysium wraps around individual muscle fibers, perimysium wraps around fascicles, and epimysium wraps around the whole muscle.

How is dystrophin related to these connective tissue wrappings?

Dystrophin connects the sarcolemma to the extracellular matrix and is crucial for muscle fiber integrity.

What happens in muscular dystrophy?

Muscular dystrophy leads to muscle weakness and degeneration due to mutations affecting dystrophin.

Define: myofiber, myofibril, sarcomere.

Myofiber is a muscle cell, myofibril is a rod-like structure within myofibers, and sarcomere is the basic unit of muscle contraction.

What is stored in the sarcoplasmic reticulum?

Calcium ions are stored in the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

What is the sliding filament model?

It describes how actin and myosin filaments slide over each other to shorten sarcomeres during muscle contraction.

What are the types of proteins found in a sarcomere?

There are contractile proteins (actin and myosin), regulatory proteins (troponin and tropomyosin), and structural proteins.

What is a motor unit?

A motor unit is a motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it innervates.

What is denervation atrophy?

Denervation atrophy is muscle wasting due to loss of nerve supply.

What is the role of calcium in muscle contraction?

Calcium ions bind to troponin, causing a conformational change that allows myosin to bind to actin.

What is the difference between anaerobic fermentation and aerobic respiration?

Anaerobic fermentation occurs without oxygen and produces less ATP, while aerobic respiration uses oxygen and produces more ATP.

What is the function of the cerebellum?

The cerebellum coordinates voluntary movements, balance, and posture.

What are EPSPs and IPSPs?

EPSPs (excitatory postsynaptic potentials) depolarize the plasma membrane, while IPSPs (inhibitory postsynaptic potentials) hyperpolarize it.

What is the blood-brain barrier?

The blood-brain barrier is a selective permeability shield that protects the brain from harmful substances.

What is a reflex?

A reflex is an involuntary response to a stimulus.

What are the 4 basic branches of a spinal nerve?

Dorsal ramus, ventral ramus, communicating rami, and meningeal ramus.