Roberto Downing

December 5, 2018
Sensory and Motor System

Introduction of organ systems from earlier animals to humans

Some animals can sense things that other animals can't. The development of these senses provide
different evolutionary advantages. Which they don’t evolve to be more exact, rather to
emphasize relevant information to the organism. Comparative studies of the human brain & other
small mammals' brains from the 6 main branches of mammalian evolution show areas of
neocortex evolved from 20-25 in early primates to over 200 in today's humans.

All bilaterally symmetric organism’s posses a sensory system, and the development of
any species’ sensory system has been driven by natural selection; thus, sensory systems
differ among species according to their history of natural selection. For example, the
shark, unlike most fish predators, is electrosensitive- that is, sensitive to electrical fields
produced by other animals in its environment.

Humans and many other vertebrates have at least five special senses: olfaction (smell),
gustation (taste), equilibrium (balance and body position), vision, and hearing.
Additionally, we possess general senses, also called somatosensation, which respond to
stimuli like temperature, pain, pressure, and vibration.

Description of structure and function of the organ system (can use the textbook as main
document, and other relevant information about the organ system.

The sensory system detects signals from the outside environment and communicates it
to the body via the nervous system. The sensory system relies on specialized sensory
receptor cells that translate external stimuli into changes in membrane potentials. If the
changes in membrane potential are sufficient to induce an action potential, then these
action potentials are then communicated along neurons within the afferent division of
the PNS to the CNS for information processing. The CNS integrates and interprets the
incoming signals to effect a response to the appropriate body systems via the efferent
division of the PNS.
Sensory receptor cells can be:

 specialized neurons (the receptor cell is also a neuron)

 specialized sensory cells which synapse with a neuron (the receptor cell secretes
neurotransmitters to stimulate changes in membrane potential in the synapsed
neuron)
Sensory receptor cells transduce (convert into changes in membrane potential)
incoming signals and may either depolarize or hyperpolarize in response to the
stimulus, depending on the sensory system. In vertebrates, each sensory system
transmits signals to a different specialized portion of the brain such as the olfactory bulb
(smell) or occipital lobe (sight), where the signal is integrated and interpreted to effect
some sort of response (often motor output) via the PNS.
Different sensory receptor cells are specialized for different types of stimuli, and are
categorized by the type of stimulus they detect. Sensory receptor cells include (but are
not limited to!)

 Mechanoreceptors: respond to physical deformation of the cell membrane from

mechanical energy or pressure, including touch, stretch, motion, or sound
 Chemoreceptors: respond to specific molecules, often dissolved in a specific
medium (such as saliva or mucus), or airborne molecules
 Photorecetpors: respond to radiant energy (visible light in most vertebrates;
visible as well as UV light in many insects)
 Nociceptors: respond to “noxious” stimuli, or essentially anything that causes
tissue damage
 Thermoreceptors: respond to heat or cold

Mechanoreceptors: Touch, Sound, Balance

Mechanoreceptors sense stimuli due to physical deformation of their plasma
membranes. They contain mechanically gated ion channels whose gates open or close in
response to pressure, touch, stretching, and sound.

Touch: The Somatosensory System

Somatosensation is the sense of touch. Somatosensation occurs all over the exterior of
the body and at some interior locations as well. The sense of touch is detected by a
variety of different types of mechanorecetpors that are embedded in the skin, mucous
membranes, muscles, joints, internal organs, and cardiovascular system. In fact, what is
commonly referred to as “touch” involves more than one kind of stimulus and more than
one kind of receptor. Touch in humans includes four primary tactile mechanoreceptors
in the skin.

A light touch activates only the mechanoreceptors near the upper layer of the skin, while
a firmer touch activates mechanoreceptors deeper in the skin, in addition to the
mechanoreceptors near the surface of the skin. A firmer touch will also activate a greater
number of receptors, and may induce more frequent action potentials in the receptors
than a lighter touch.,

Sound: The Auditory System

Auditory stimuli are sound waves, which are mechanical pressure waves that move
through a medium, such as air or water. (There are no sound waves in a vacuum since
there are no air molecules to move in waves.) Because sound waves exert pressure,
sound is detected by mechanoreceptors.
As is true for all waves, there are four main characteristics of a sound wave: frequency,
wavelength, period, and amplitude. Three of these are important for understanding how
hearing works:

 Frequency is the number of waves per unit of time, which is heard as pitch.
Frequency is also related to wavelength, where high-frequency (15,000 Hz) sounds
are higher-pitched and shorter wavelength than low-frequency, long wavelength
(100 Hz) sounds. Most humans can perceive sounds with frequencies between 30
and 20,000 Hz. Dogs detect up to about 40,000 Hz; cats, 60,000 Hz; bats, 100,000
Hz; and dolphins 150,000 Hz, and some fish can hear 180,000 Hz.
 Amplitude, or the dimension of a wave from peak to trough, in sound is heard
as volume. The sound waves of louder sounds have greater amplitude than those of
softer sounds. For sound, volume is measured in decibels (dB). In the figure below,
the softest sound that a human can hear is the zero point. Humans speak normally at
60 decibels.
 Outer ear:
 Sound waves are collected by the external, cartilaginous part of the ear
 Sound waves then travel through the auditory canal and cause vibration of
the ear drum (tympanic membrane)
 Middle ear:
 The eardrum transmits sound to the middle ear by vibrating
the ossicles, the three small bones of the middle ear which collect force
and amplify sounds.  The three ossicles are unique to mammals.
 Inner ear:
 The ossicles transmit the vibrations to a thin membrane called the oval
window, which is the outermost structure of the inner ear.
 The vibrations of the oval window create pressure waves in the fluid inside
the cochlea. The cochlea is a whorled structure, like the shell of a snail,
and it contains receptors for transduction of the mechanical wave into an
electrical signal
Balance and Movement: The Vestibular System
The stimuli associated with the vestibular system are linear acceleration (gravity) and angular
acceleration and deceleration. Gravity, acceleration, and deceleration are detected by evaluating
the inertia on receptive cells in the vestibular system. In vertebrates, gravity is detected through
head position. Angular acceleration and deceleration are expressed through turning or tilting of
the head.
The vestibular system in vertebrates has some similarities with the auditory system. It utilizes
hair cells located within the ear in a structure called the vestibular labyrinth (located adjacent to
the cochlea), but it activates them in a different way compared to the auditory system. Hair cells
in the vesibular labyrinth detect signals in two ways:
 Some hair cells lie below a gelatinous layer, with their stereocilia projecting into the gelatin.
Embedded in this gelatin are calcium carbonate crystals, like tiny rocks, that move in
response to gravity. Any time the head is tilted at an angle or is subject to acceleration or
deceleration, these crystals cause the gelatin to shift, bending the stereocilia. The bending of
 the stereocilia stimulates the neurons, and they signal to the brain that the head is tilted,
allowing the maintenance of balance.
 Some hair cells project into a gelatinous cap called the cupula. When the head turns, the fluid
in the canals shifts, thereby bending stereocilia and sending signals to the brain. When
movement stops, the movement of the fluid within the canals slows or stops.
Photoreceptors: Vision
As with auditory stimuli, light travels in waves. The pressure waves that create sound must travel
in a medium: a gas, a liquid, or a solid. In contrast, light is composed of electromagnetic waves
and needs no medium; light can travel in a vacuum (this is why we can see stars from space.)
The behavior of light can be discussed in terms of the behavior of waves and also in terms of the
behavior of the fundamental unit of light: a packet of electromagnetic radiation called a photon.
Humans can perceive just a small slice of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, which includes
radiation that we cannot see as light because it is below the frequency of visible red light and
above the frequency of visible violet light, which are the limits of vertebrate light detection.

Certain variables are important when discussing perception of light:

 Wavelength (which varies inversely with frequency) is detected as hue, or color. Light at the
red end of the visible spectrum has longer wavelengths (and is lower frequency), while light
at the violet end has shorter wavelengths (and is higher frequency). The wavelength of light
is expressed in nanometers (nm); one nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Humans perceive
light that ranges between approximately 380 nm and 740 nm. Some other animals, though,
can detect wavelengths outside of the human range. For example, bees see near-ultraviolet
light in order to locate nectar guides on flowers, and some non-avian reptiles sense infrared
light (heat that prey gives off).
 Wave amplitude is perceived as luminous intensity, or brightness.
Detection of light occurs through photoreceptors, cells that contain pigment-
absorbing molecules that absorb light. Photoreceptor cells are typically located in light-
collecting organs called eyes. Eyes vary in structure in different types of animals and
include:
 eye cups in flatworms, which are dimple-shaped structures that detect the direction
of a light source
 compound eyes of arthropods, which contain multiple lenses and detect shapes,
patterns, and movements
 pinhole eyes in the nautilus, which contain no lens and forms simple, low-
resolution images
 simple eyes of cephalopods and vertebrates, which contain a single lens and form
high-resolution images
Many of these types of eyes, which are present in living organisms today, may have also
represented a pathway of evolution from a simple patch of photosensitive cells to simple
lens eyes of vertebrates and cephalopods:

The vertebrate eye contains the following structures:

 Sclera: tough outer tissue (white of the eye)

 Cornea: transparent sheet of connective tissue, functions with the lens to focus light
on the retina
 Iris: pigmented ring of muscle that controls amount of light entering eye
 Pupil: hole in center of iris
 Lens: crystalline, curved structure that focuses light on the cornea (by bending, not
by moving) in conjunction with the cornea
 Retina: thin layer of photoreceptor cells and neurons
 Photoreceptor cells: light-detecting sensory cells
 Bipolar cells: intermediate connecting neurons
 Ganglion cells: neurons whose axons project to the brain via the optic nerve
 Fovea: site of retina with only cones, area of highest visual resolution
 Optic nerve: axons of the ganglion cells
Regardless of the structure of the eye, all photoreception relies on light-absorbing
pigment molecules embedded in the photoreceptor cells. This pigment is called retinal,
and it is contained in a protein called opsin. Together, they form a complex
called rhodopsin, that allow us to detect light and color. Both the protein and the
pigment are essential for this process:
 The pigment: retinal, reversibly changes shape when it is hit by a photon of light.
 The protein: opsin, holds the retinal pigment and changes shape/activity when the
retinal changes shape in response to absorption of light. Opsins are responsible for
our ability to perceive differences in color or hue. Humans have three color-sensitive
opsins: S opsin (short-wavelength opsin), M opsin (medium-wavelength opsin), and
L opsin (long-wavelength opsin).
 Cones (which are cone-shaped) each contain a single type of color-sensitive
opsin, making each cone most sensitive to a particular hue or color of light. 
Though we only have three types of cones (due to the three types of color-
sensitive opsins), we are able to detect so much variation in hue to do activation
of different combinations of cones at the same time. Cones require high-levels of
light to work, which is why we can’t perceive color well in the dark. Cones are
heavily concentrated at the fovea and are useful for focusing on important visual
details.
 Rods (which are rod-shaped) each contain a fourth type of opsin called rod
opsin, which is activated by an intermediate wavelength of light and is capable of
working in low-levels of light. Rods are not color-sensitive, but allow us to see in
low levels of light. Rods are heavily concentrated at the periphery (outer edges) of
the retina, and are useful for detecting movement in our field of vision.

Chemoreceptors: Taste (Gustation) and Smell (Olfaction)

Taste, also called gustation, and smell, also called olfaction, are interconnected senses.
Both involve molecules of the stimulus entering the body and bonding to receptors,
relying on chemoreceptors, receptors that are sensitive to specific chemicals. Just as
each photoreceptor cell is sensitive to a specific wavelength of light based on the opsin
present in the cell, each chemoreceptor cell is sensitive to a particular molecule based on
the protein receptor present in the cell.
Taste: the Gustatory System
The primary tastes detected by humans are sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami
(savoriness, which tends to indicate that a food is high in protein).

Detecting a taste relies on activation of specific chemical receptors in taste receptor cells
(gustatory receptors). When the specific chemical (tastant) binds the receptor, the
receptor cell becomes depolarized and releases neurotransmitter on its synapsed
afferent neuron. As in other sensory systems, specificity in taste occurs because each
taste receptor cell has only one type of protein receptor which is sensitive to either
sweet, sour, bitter, salty, or umami. The process of depolarization differs based on the
specific type of gustatory receptor:
 A salty tastant (containing NaCl) provides the sodium ions (Na ) that enter the taste
+

receptor cells and excite them directly.

 Sour tastants are acids cause an increase hydrogen ion (H ) concentrations in the
+

taste receptor cells, thus depolarizing them.

 Sweet, bitter, and umami tastants cause activation of an enzyme that causes opening
of an ion channel, thus depolarizing the taste receptor cells.
 Spiciness isn’t detected by taste buds at all, but is actually due to activation of pain
receptors (nociceptors)! (More on pain perception at the bottom of this page)
The primary organ of taste is the taste bud. A taste bud is a cluster of gustatory
receptors (taste receptor cells) that are located within the bumps on the tongue
called papillae (singular: papilla). Each taste bud contains all five types of gustatory
receptors which are elongated cells with hair-like processes called microvilli at the tips
that extend into the taste bud pore. Tastants must be dissolved in saliva to bind with and
stimulate the receptors on the microvilli, which is why the sense of taste isn’t as strong
when your mouth is dry
Smell: the Olfactory System
Flavor includes a lot more than just the five primary tastes; most people can detect a
difference between the sweet flavors of different types of fruit rather than detecting all of
them as just “sweet.” But the nuance of flavor doesn’t actually come from gustation at
all; it comes from our sense of smell. This is why many people temporarily lose their
sense of taste when they have a cold or other severe nasal congestion.

All odors that we perceive are molecules in the air we breathe. If a substance does not
release molecules into the air from its surface, it has no smell. And if a human or other
animal does not have a receptor that recognizes a specific molecule, then that molecule
has no smell. Humans have about 350 olfactory receptor subtypes that work in various
combinations to allow us to sense about 10,000 different odors. (As you may be
expecting by now, each olfactory receptor cell has only one type of olfactory receptor
protein, meaning each receptor cell is specific to only one type of odorant.) For
comparison, mice have about 1,300 olfactory receptor types and therefore probably
sense many more odors than do humans.

How does the sense of smell work?

 Odorants (odor molecules) enter the nose and dissolve in the olfactory
epithelium, located at the back of the nasal cavity. The olfactory epithelium is a
collection of specialized olfactory receptors in the back of the nasal cavity that spans
an area about 5 cm  in humans. Similar to tastants, which must be dissolved in
2

saliva, an odorant molecule must be dissolved in mucus in order to be detected by its

receptor.
 An olfactory receptor, which is a dendrite of a specialized sensory neuron,
responds when it binds certain molecules inhaled from the environment by sending
impulses directly to the olfactory bulb of the brain. Humans have about 12 million
olfactory receptors, distributed among hundreds of different receptor types that
respond to different odors. Twelve million seems like a large number of receptors,
but compare that to other animals: rabbits have about 100 million, most dogs have
about 1 billion, and bloodhounds, dogs selectively bred for their sense of smell, have
about 4 billion. The overall size of the olfactory epithelium also differs between
species, with that of bloodhounds, for example, being many times larger than that of
humans.
 Each olfactory neuron has a single dendrite buried in the olfactory epithelium, and
extending from this dendrite are hair-like cilia that trap odorant molecules. The
sensory receptors on the cilia are proteins, and slight variations in the protein
sequences make them sensitive to different odorants.
 Each olfactory sensory neuron has only one type of receptor protein on its cilia, and
the receptors are specialized to detect specific odorants, so each olfactory neuron is
capable of detecting only a single type of odorant molecule.
 When an odorant binds with a receptor that recognizes it, the sensory neuron
associated with the receptor is is depolarized and relays action potentials to the
brain.
 Olfactory stimulation is the only sensory information that directly reaches the
cerebral cortex, whereas other sensations are relayed through the thalamus.
Our ability to detect and interpret flavor is due to the combination of gustatory and
olfactory senses:

 Taste receptors are responsible for the sense of how salty, sweet, bitter, sour, or
savory a food is, via tastants dissolved in saliva
 Olfactory receptors are responsible for the flavor of a food, via odorants detected in
the olfactory epithelium during chewing, through a process called retronasal
olfaction (the flow of air from the back of the throat up to the olfactory epithelium
via the back of the nose)
 Nociceptors: Tissue Damage and Pain
 Pain is the name given to nociception, which is the neural processing in response to
tissue damage. Pain is caused by both true sources of injury, such as contact with a
corrosive chemical, and also by harmless stimuli that mimic the action of damaging
stimuli, such as contact with capsaicins, the compounds that cause peppers to taste hot
(and which are used in self-defense pepper sprays and certain topical medications).
Peppers taste “hot” because the protein receptors that bind capsaicin open the same
calcium channels that are activated by heat-sensitive thermoreceptors.
  There are many different types of nociceptors and we will not describe them in this
course, but the important thing to understand is that different types of nociceptors are
activated by different types of tissue damage, including extremes of hot or cold, toxic
chemicals, and extreme mechanical deformation such as stretching, cuts, and tears.
 Nociception starts at the sensory receptors, but pain does not actually start until it is
communicated to the brain; pain is the interpretation of the tissue damage, not the
actual stimulus itself. There are several nociceptive pathways to and through the brain,
including through the thalamus (like most other sensory systems) and directly to the
hypothalamus , which modulates the cardiovascular and neuroendocrine functions of the
autonomic nervous system, where it can directly activate the fight-or-flight response.

Diseases, disorders related to the organ system

Motor system:

 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

 Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS)

 Hereditary spastic paraparesis (HSP)

 Progressive bulbar palsy (PBP), including hereditary forms
 Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
 X-linked spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA; Kennedy disease)
 Postpolio syndrome (PPS)

sensory system:
Parkinson’s disease
-Pain, akathisia, olfactory loss, visual impairment, vestibular dysfunction, proprioceptive and
kinaesthetic dysfunction, and sensory cueing
Dystonias
-Pain, photosensitivity, alleviating manoeuvres, kinaesthetic dysfunction, abnormal temporal
and spatial discrimination
Peripherally induced dystonia, tremor, other movement disorders, and complex regional
pain syndrome
-Pain, paraesthesias
Tics and Tourette’s syndrome
-Premonitory urge phenomena, enhanced sensory perception, alleviating manoeuvres
Restless legs syndrome
-Urge phenomena, reduction of urge with bright lights
Akathisia
-Urge phenomena, reduction with passive motion (perception of movement)
Stereotypies
-Urge phenomena
Tardive Pain
-Painful mouth and vagina syndrome, and phantom dyskinesias
Leg Stereotopy Disorder
-Urge phenomena
Paroxysmal kinesigenic and non-kinesigenic dyskinesias
-Numbness, paraesthesias, crawling sensations in legs

Latest findings about the organ system (at least from two sources)

Potential Mechanisms of Sensory Augmentation Systems on
Human Balance Control
Numerous studies have demonstrated the real-time use of visual, vibrotactile, auditory, and
multimodal sensory augmentation technologies for reducing postural sway during static tasks and
improving balance during dynamic tasks.

https://doaj-org.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/article/267b2f025bfc417da303deb359637b73

Are We Doing More Than We Know? Possible Mechanisms of

Response to Music Therapy
Due to advances in medical knowledge the population of older adults struggling with issues of aging like
Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and stroke is growing. There is a need for
therapeutic interventions to provide adaptive strategies to sustain quality of life, decrease neurologic
impairment, and maintain or slow cognitive decline and function due to degenerative neurologic diseases.
Musical interventions with adults with cognitive impairments have received increased attention over the
past few years, such as the value of personalized music listening in the iPod project for AD (1); music as
a tool to decrease agitation and anxiety in dementia (2); and music to aid in episodic memory (3);
Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation as rehabilitation for PD (4); and recently the potential of 40
Hz sensory brain stimulation with AD and PD (5, 6). T

https://doaj-org.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/article/e1410a2f68f3426782639fdfb1c00a4e

Concept Check 50.1

1. Which one of the five categories of sensory receptors is primarily dedicated to external stimuli?

electromagnetic receptors in general detect only external stimuli. chemoreceptors and

mechanoreceptors can act as either internal or external sensors

2. Why can eating “hot” peppers cause a person to sweat?

The capsaicin precent in peppers activates the thermoreceptor for high temperatures. In
response to the perceived high temp, the nervous system triggers sweating to achieve
evaporative cooling
 3. if you stimulated a sensory neuron electrically, how would that stimulation be perceived?

You would perceive the electrical stimulus as if the sensory receptors that regulate that neuron
had been activated. Ex: electrical stimulation of the sensory neuron controlled by the
thermoreceptor activated by menthol would likely be perceives as a local cooling

Concept check 50.2

1.How are otoliths adaptive for burrowing mammals, such as the star-nosed mole?

Otoliths detect the animals’ orientation with respect to gravity, providing information that is
essential in environments such as the tunnel habitat of the star nosed mole, where light cues
are absent

2. Suppose a series of pressure waves in your cochlea caused a vibration of the basilar
membrane that moves gradually from the apex toward the base. how would your brain
interpret this stimulus?

As a sound that changes gradually from a very low to a very high pitch

3.If the stapes became fused to the other middle ear bones or to the oval window, how would
this condition affect hearing? explain.

The stapes and other middle ear bones transmit vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the
oval window. Fusion of these bones would block this transmission and result in hearing loss

4. plants use statoliths to detect gravity (see Figure 39.22). how do plants and animals differ
with regard to the type of compartment in which statoliths are found and the physiological
mechanism for detecting their response to gravity?

In animals, the statoliths are extracellular. In contrast, the statoliths of plants are found within an
intracellular organelle. The methods for detecting their location also differ. In animals, detection
is by means of mechanoreceptors on ciliated cells. In plants, the mechanism appears to involve
calcium signaling.

Concept Check 50.3

1.Contrast the light-detecting organs of planarians and flies. how is each organ adaptive for the
lifestyle of the animal?

Planarians have ocelli that cannot form images but can sense the intensity and direction of
light. Flies have compound eyes that form mosaic images and excel at detecting movement
2. In a condition called presbyopia, the eyes’ lenses lose much of their elasticity and maintain a
flat shape. explain how this condition affects a person’s vision.

the person can focus on distant objects but not close objects because close focusing requires
the lens to become almost spherical

3.Our brain receives more action potentials when our eyes are exposed to light even though
our photoreceptors release more neurotransmitter in the dark. propose an explanation.

4.Compare the function of retinal in the eye with that of the pigment chlorophyll in a plant
photosystem

Absorption of light by retinal converts retinal from its cis isomer to its trans isomer, initiating the
process of light detection. In contrast, a photon absorbed by chlorophyll does not bring about
isomerization, but instead boosts anelectron to a higher energy orbital, initiating the electron to
flow that generates ATP and NADPH.

Concept Check 50.4

1.Explain why some taste receptor cells and all olfactory receptor cells use G protein-coupled
receptors, yet only olfactory receptor cells produce action potentials.

Both taste cells and olfactory cells have receptor proteins in their plasma membrane that
bind certain substances, leading to membrane depolarization through a signal transduction
pathway involving G protein. However, olfactory cells are sensory neurons, whereas taste
cells are not
2. Pathways involving G proteins provide an opportunity for an increase in signal strength in the
course of signal transduction, a change referred to as amplification. how might this be
beneficial in olfaction?

Since animals rely on chemical signals for behaviors that include finding mates, marking
territories and avoiding dangerous substances, it is adaptive for the olfactory system to have a
robust response to a very small number of molecules of a particular odoran.

Concept Check 50.5

2+
1. Contrast the role of Ca in the contraction of a skeletal muscle fiber and a smooth muscle
cell.

In skeletal muscle fiver, Ca+ binds to the troponin complex, in smooth muscle cells Ca+ binds to
calmodulin.
2. Why are the muscles of an animal that has recently died likely to be stiff?

Rigor mortis, results from the complete depletion of ATP in skeletal muscle. Since ATP is
required to release myosin from actin and the pump Ca2+ out of the cytosol, muscles become
chronically contracted beginning about 3-4 hours after death.

Concept Check 50.6

1. In what way are septa an important feature of the earthworm skeleton?

Septa provide the divisions of coelom that allow for peristalsis, a form of locomotion requiring
independent control of different body segments.

2. Contrast swimming and flying in terms of the main problems they pose and the adaptations
that allow animals to overcome those problems.

The main problem in swimming is the drag; a fusiform body minimizes drag. The main problem
in flying is overcoming gravity; wings are shaped like airfoils to provide lift and airfield bones
reduce body mass

3. When using your arms to lower yourself into a chair, you bend your arms without using your
biceps. explain how this is possible.

When you grasp sides of chair, you are using a contraction of the triceps to keep your arms
extended against the pull of gravity on your body. As you lower yourself slowly onto chair, you
gradually decrease the number of motor units in the triceps that are contracted. Contracting
your biceps would jerk you down, since you would no longer be opposing gravity