Week

5 Musculo-Skeletal Notes
The Nerve-Muscle Interface (Efferent & Afferent)

Revision from last week:
• Motor Neuron
o Cell bodies in the ventral horns of the spinal cord
• Neuromuscular Junction
o Junction (synapse) between terminal parts of nerve & muscle fibres
o Nerve terminals contain synaptic vesicles of acetylcholine
o Motor Endplate – highly convoluted post-synaptic membrane
§ Site of neurotransmitter (ligand) gated receptors.
o ACh causes depolarisation of muscle – Excitatory – stimulates contraction
o ACh broken down by acetylcholinesterase.

• Motor Unit
o The number of muscle fibres innervated by a single motor nerve.

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Requirements for Proper Muscle Function:
• Rapid Action Potential – see earlier notes: Excitable Membranes/Action Potentials
• Input
• Sensory Feedback
• Muscle Tone

Peripheral Nerves:
• Motor Fibres
• Sensory Fibres
• May form a Plexus:
o Network of nerve fibres
o Innervate limbs
§ Brachial
§ Lumbo-Sacral
o Allows for well organised movements
o Each limb receives nervous supply from more than one spinal nerve.
§ Provides backup innervation if some spinal fibres are damaged.
o Brachial Plexus:

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Muscle Sensory Feedback
- Muscles need to ‘know what they are doing’
o Tension...and....
o Length of the muscle.
- How? – Through “Proprioception” (via proprioceptors)
o Awareness of body positioning in space.
o Mediated by Cerebral Cortex & Cerebellum
- Proprioceptors: (Muscle Spindles & Golgi Tendon Organs)

o Muscle Spindles:
§ Encapsulated Proprio-Mechano-Receptors
§ Located inside muscle amongst normal (extrafusal) muscle fibres.
§ Intrafusal Muscle Fibres (“inside spindle”)
• Receptive Central Region:
o Receptive
o Non-contractile àLack myofilaments
o Wrapped by primary afferent endings of large type Ia sensory fibres:
§ Monitor rate & degree of stretch.
• Receptive Spindle Ends:
o Receptive
o Wrapped by secondary afferent endings of small type II sensory fibres:
§ Monitor degree of stretch only.
• Distal Contractile Spindle Ends:
o Contractile àContain myofilaments
o Innervated by gamma (γ) efferent fibres – originate in ventral horn.
o Maintain spindle sensitivity.

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 § The Stretch Reflex:
1. Spindle activated by stretch
2. Types Ia & II sensory fibres transmit impulses to spinal cord.
3. Sensory fibres synapse with α-Motor-Neurons in spinal cord
4. Transmits action potential to muscle
5. Contracts extrafusal fibres of the stretched muscle
6. Prevents further stretching of muscle
7. Also inhibits antagonistic muscles à Reciprocal Inhibition

§ Adjusting Muscle Spindle Sensitivity:
• Muscle spindles require a certain tension to work properly.
• If intrafusal fibres didn’t contract with the extrafusal fibres during muscle
contraction, the spindles would go slack & cease generating action potentials.
• α-γ Coactivation prevents this by sending voluntary contractile action potentials to
the intrafusal fibres as well as the extrafusal fibres.
• Maintains spindle tension (and therefore its sensitivity)

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 o Golgi Tendon Organs:
§ Encapsulated Proprio-Mechano-Receptors
§ Innervated by type Ib afferent fibres
§ In tendons connecting to bone
§ Monitor muscle tension
§ Inhibits contraction of muscle when tension is too great - Golgi Tendon Reflex:
• When tension reaches a threshold, Golgi tendon organs are activated.
• Afferent impulses transmitted to spinal cord
• Contracting muscle is relaxed + Antagonist muscle is contracted.

o Cerebral Cortex & Cerebellum
§ Integrates Afferent Input
§ Fine-tunes motor outputs
§ Subconscious level

Flexor Reflex:
• Painful cutaneous stimuli of the limbs causes withdrawal from the stimulus.
• Polysynaptic – contracts & relaxes multiple different muscles.



Crossed Extensor Reflex:
• Painful cutaneous stimuli of a limb causes withdrawal of that
limb and extension of the opposite limb.
• Information crosses over to opposite side of spinal cord à
excites extensor muscles of opposite limb.

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Muscle Tone:
• Sustained partial contraction exhibited in ‘relaxed’ muscles.
o In response to stretch receptors
• Keeps muscle poised & ready
• Keeps muscle healthy
• Maintains posture and stabilises joints.

Determinants of Contractile Force:
• Number of Muscle Fibres Stimulated:
o The more motor units recruited, the greater the force.
o The more muscle fibres recruited, the greater the force.
• Size of Muscle Fibres Stimulated:
o Proportional to cross-sectional area
o The larger the entire muscleàgreater the force
o The larger the muscle fibre àgreater the force.
o Muscle building causes hypertrophy of muscle fibres (cells).
• Frequency of Stimulation:
o Wave summation of twitches
o Cytosolic Ca2+ rises – contractile force increases
o Highest frequency: Tetanus.

• Degree of Muscle Stretch:
o Optimal: when all myosin heads can form cross-bridges.

• Muscle Fibre Type:
o White:
§ Anaerobic
§ Larger cross-sectional area
§ Higher force generators
o Red
§ Aerobic
§ Many mitochondria
§ Less force generated

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