NAME: Akinsanya Oyinkansola Christine

MATRIC NO.: 19/0188

COURSE OF STUDY: Medicine and Surgery
DEPARTMENT: Physiology

ASSIGNMENT
Discuss the properties of skeletal muscles
 PROPERTIES OF SKELETAL MUSCLE
1. EXCITABILITY
Excitability refers to a tissue's reactivity or response to irritation or stimulation.
The term "stimulus" refers to a change in the environment. It is described as an
agent, influence, or act that causes an excitable tissue to respond. There are four
types of stimuli that can excite tissue:
a. Mechanical stimulus
b. Electrical stimulus
c. Thermal stimulus
d. Chemical stimulus
The stimulus must have two characteristics to stimulate a tissue:
o Intensity
o Duration
INTENSITY: The intensity or strength of a stimulus is of five types:
i. Subminimal stimulus: sensory stimulation that is below a person's
threshold for perception.
ii. Minimal stimulus: stimulus whose strength (or voltage) is sufficient to
excite the tissue.
iii. Submaximal stimulus: It is more than minimal and less than maximal
strength of the stimulus. It produces more force of contraction than
minimal stimulus
iv. Maximal stimulus: It produces almost the maximum force of
contraction.
v. Supramaximal stimulus: It produces the maximum force of
contraction. Beyond this, the force of contraction cannot be increased
DURATION: Whatever may be the strength of the stimulus, it must
be applied for a minimum duration to excite the tissue. The duration of a
stimulus is determined by the intensity of the stimulation. In the case of a
weak stimulus, the duration is greater, and for a more intense stimulus, the
duration is longer, the period is shorter.
2. CONTRACTILITY
This is the response of the muscle to a stimulus. Contraction is defined as the internal
events of muscle with a change in either length or tension of the muscle fibres.
Muscular contraction is classified into two types based
on change in the length of muscle fibres or tension of
the muscle:
i. Isotonic contraction
ii. Isometric contraction.
 a. ISOMETRIC CONTRACTION: As the name indicates (iso = same, metric =
measure, i.e. length), in this type of contraction, the length of the muscle
remains the same but the tension is developed in the muscle. Thus there is no
movement of the object. Since work done is the product of force ˜ distance,
therefore, in an isometric contraction, no external work is done.
Example: Pulling any heavy object when muscles become stiff and strained
with increased tension but the length does not change.
b. ISOTONIC CONTRACTION: As the name indicates (iso = same, and tonic =
tone or tension), in this type of contraction, the tension in the muscle remains
the same whereas its length decreases. Since the muscle length is shortened, so
the external work is done in isotonic contraction.
Example: Simple flexion of arm, where shortening of muscle fibres occurs but
the tension does not change.

SINGLE MUSCLE TWITCH

This is the typical contractile response of a skeletal muscle to a single stimulus.

FACTORS AFFECTING CONTRACTILE RESPONSE

The factors which can affect the contractile response (force of contraction) of a
skeletal muscle are:
 Strength of stimulus,
 Frequency of stimulus,
 Load on the muscle (pre-load and after-load),
 The initial length of muscle and
 Temperature.

 STRENGTH OF STIMULUS: A single muscle fibre obeys the all or none

law. When the muscle is stimulated by stimuli with different strengths (voltage
or current), the force of contraction also differs.
 FREQUENCY OF STIMULUS: Contractility of the muscle varies, depending
upon the number of stimuli. If a single stimulus is applied, muscle contracts
once (simple muscle twitch). Two or more than two (multiple) stimuli produce
two different effects.
 LOAD ON THE MUSCLE: Load is the force exerted by the weight of an
object on the muscle. The force exerted by the contracting muscle on the
object is known as muscle tension. Thus, muscle load and muscle tension are
two opposing forces. The load acting on the muscle is of two types: free-load
(or pre-load) and after-load.
Effect of free-load. A load that starts acting on a muscle before it starts to
contract is called free-load (or pre-load). The free-load increases the force of
contraction and work efficiency of the muscle. The free-load stretches the
 muscle passively producing a passive tension across the muscle. This passive
tension increases the force of muscle contraction in two ways: by increasing
the initial length of the muscle to its resting length at which maximum force is
generated and by adding an elastic recoil force to the muscle during its
contraction.
Effect of after-load. After-load refers to the load which acts on the muscle
after the beginning of muscular contraction. Thus, the after-load opposes the
force produced by muscle contraction. The work done in an after-loaded
muscle is less than that of a free-loaded muscle.

 EFFECT OF INITIAL LENGTH OF MUSCLE: According to Starling’s law,

the force of contraction is a function of the initial length of muscle fibres.
Therefore, up to physiological limits, the greater the initial length, the greater
is the force of contraction
 EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE: The contractile response is altered due to the
effect of temperature. At moderately high temperatures (say 40°C) there
occurs an increase in the amplitude of the muscle curve occurs due to an
increase in isotonic shortening of the muscle. This occurs due to a decrease in
the internal viscoelastic resistance. The velocity of contraction also increases.
At low temperatures (say 5–10°C) reverse changes occur; however, the effects
of cold are reversible. So, if the muscle is gradually re-warmed, excitability is
regained. At high temperatures (above 50–60°C) there occurs coagulation of
the muscle proteins leading to stiffness and shortening of the muscle fibres.
This condition is called heat rigour. It is an irreversible phenomenon.
Other Types of Rigors.
o Cold Rigor. It occurs following exposure to severe cold. It is a reversible
phenomenon.
o Calcium Rigor. It occurs due to increased calcium content. It is also a
reversible phenomenon.
o Rigor Mortis - Rigor mortis refers to the shortening and rigidity of all the body
muscles which occurs some hours after death.

3. MUSCLE TONE
Muscle tone is defined as continuous and partial contraction of the muscles with a
certain degree of vigour and tension. The maintenance of tone in skeletal muscle is
neurogenic. It is due to the continuous discharge of impulses from gamma
motor neurons in the anterior grey horn of spinal cord. The gamma motor neurons in
the spinal cord are controlled by higher centres in the brain.