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Muscle Fibers
Elongated Muscle Cells
Skeleton Muscle
Muscle composed of cylindrical multinucleate cells with obvious striations; the muscle(s) attached to the body’s skeleton; voluntary muscle.
endomysium
thin connective tissue surrounding each muscle cell.
Perimysium
Connective tissue enveloping bundles of muscle fibers
Epimysium
Sheath of fibrous connective tissue surrounding a muscle.
Fascicle
Bundle of muscle fibers bound together by connective tissues
Tendon
Cord of dense fibrous tissue attaching a muscle to bone
Aponeuroses
Fibrous or membranous sheet connecting a muscle and the part it moves
Smooth Muscles
Spindle shaped cells with one centrally located nucleus and no externally visible striations (bands). Found mainly in the walls of hollow organs
Cardiac Muscle
Specialized muscle of the heart
Sarcolemma
The plasma membrane in muscle cells; muscle husk.
Myofibril
Rodlike bundle of contractile filaments (myofilaments) found in muscle cells.
Sarcomere
The smallest contractile unit of muscle; extends from one Z disc to the next.
Myofilament
Filament that constitutes myofibrils. Of two types: Actin and Myosin
Myosin
One of the principal contractile proteins found in muscle; thick filaments.
Crossbridges
Projections of myosin that link thin and thick filaments together during contraction.
Actin
A contractile protein of muscle; thin filaments
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum
A specialized muscle fiber organelle which stores calcium to release upon demand when the muscle fiber is stimulated to contract.
Motor Unit
A motor neuron and all the muscle cells it stimulates
Axon
Neuron process that carries impulses away from the nerve cell body; efferent process; the conducting portion of a nerve cell.
Axon Terminal
A branch ending of a nerve fiber which forms junctions with the sarcolemma of a different muscle cell.
Neuromuscular Junction
Region where a motor neuron comes into close contact with a skeletal muscle cell.
Synaptic Cleft
Fluid-filled gap between nerve ending and muscle cells.
Neurotransmitter
Chemical released by neurons that may, upon binding to receptors of neurons or effector cells, stimulate or inhibit them.
Acetylcholine
Chemical transmitter substance released by some nerve endings.
Action Potential
A large transient depolarization event, including polarity reversal, that is conducted along the membrane of a muscle cell or a nerve fiber.
Graded Response
A response that varies directly with the strength of the stimulus
Fused Tetanus
A smooth, sustained muscle contraction resulting from high frequency stimulation
Muscle Twitch
The response of a muscle to a single brief threshold stimulus.
Unfused Tetanus
Summed effects of muscle twitches prior to smooth sustained contraction.
