Name: Rojas Vazquez Jose Maria

Exercise 2: Skeletal Muscle Physiology: Activity 3: The Effect of Stimulus Frequency on Skeletal Muscle Contraction Lab
Report

Pre-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly.

1. During a single twitch of a skeletal muscle

You correctly answered: b. maximal force is never achieved.

2. When a skeletal muscle is repetitively stimulated, twitches can overlap each other and result in a stronger muscle
contraction than a stand-alone twitch. This phenomenon is known as
You correctly answered: c. wave summation.

3. Wave summation is achieved by

You correctly answered: a. increasing the stimulus frequency (the rate of stimulus delivery to the muscle).

4. Wave summation increases the force produced in the muscle. Another way to increase the force produced by a muscle
is to
You correctly answered: d. increase the number of activated motor units.

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Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question 1: As the stimulus frequency increases, what will happen to the muscle force generated with each
successive stimulus? Will there be a limit to this response?
You did not answer this question.

Predict Question 2: In order to produce sustained muscle contractions with an active force value of 5.2 grams, do you think
you will need to increase the stimulus voltage?
You did not answer this question.

Stop & Think Questions:

Was there any change in the force generated by the muscle during the second stimulated twitch?
You correctly answered: c. Yes, the second twitch generated more muscle force.

Is the total muscle force generated by the higher frequency stimulation greater than the force generated in previous
stimulations?
You did not answer this question.
Correct answer: a. Yes, it is greater than the previous stimulations.

Does the force generated by the muscle change with each additional stimulus?
You did not answer this question.
Correct answer: b. As the stimulus frequency increased, the muscle tension generated by each successive stimulus also
increased, and a limiting maximum value was observed.

Experiment Data:

Voltage Length Stimulus Active Force Passive Force Total Force

8.5 75 Single 1.83 0.0 1.83
8.5 75 Single 2.41 0.0 2.41

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Post-lab Quiz Results
You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly.

1. Which of the following is not one of the ways that the body can increase the force produced by a skeletal muscle?
You correctly answered: d. application of higher voltages to the whole muscle

2. When a muscle receives a stimulus frequency that causes non-overlapping twitches to follow each other closely in time
such that the peak tension of each twitch rises in a stepwise fashion up to a plateau value, the result is known as
You correctly answered: c. treppe.

3. In this experiment the isolated skeletal muscle was repetitively stimulated such that individual twitches overlapped with
each other and resulted in a stronger muscle contraction than a standalone twitch. This phenomenon is known as
You correctly answered: c. wave summation.

4. Wave summation is achieved by

You correctly answered: a. increasing the rate of stimulus delivery (frequency) to the muscle.

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Review Sheet Results
1. What is the difference between stimulus intensity and stimulus frequency?
Your answer:
Cuando se habla de la intensidad de estimulo nos estamos refiriendo a la cantidad de voltaje que se aplica a un musculo
que provocara un aumento de la fuerza en el mismo. La frecuencia del estimulo vendria a ser la rapidez con la que se
aplican los estimulos al musculo

2. In this experiment you observed the effect of stimulating the isolated skeletal muscle multiple times in a short period with
complete relaxation between the stimuli. Describe the force of contraction with each subsequent stimulus. Are these results
called treppe or wave summation?
Your answer:
Es treppe, debido a que, la fuerza de contraccion por cada estimulo es mayor.

3. How did the frequency of stimulation affect the amount of force generated by the isolated skeletal muscle when the
frequency of stimulation was increased such that the muscle twitches did not fully relax between subsequent stimuli? Are
these results called treppe or wave summation? How well did the results compare with your prediction?
Your answer:
La fuerza contractil es mayor, pues vemos una suma de ondas donde estas se superponen en si que causa una
contraccion muscular mas fuerte. En los resultados se vio un aumento de la fuerza generada

4. To achieve an active force of 5.2 g, did you have to increase the stimulus voltage above 8.5 volts? If not, how did you
achieve an active force of 5.2 g? How well did the results compare with your prediction?
Your answer:
No hubo necesidad de aumentar el estimulo a mas de 8.5 voltios, pero si se aumento la frecuencia del estimulo para tomar
la suma de ondas y llegar a 5.2 de la fuerza activa

5. Compare and contrast frequency-dependent wave summation with motor unit recruitment (previously observed by
increasing the stimulus voltage). How are they similar? How was each achieved in the experiment? Explain how each is
achieved in vivo.
Your answer:
En la suma de ondas las contracciones comienzan antes de que termine la anyerior, asi como la fuerza aumenta hasta
llegar a una meseta o tetano.
En el reclutamiento de unidades motoras las contracciones son simples y hay limitacion al activar todas las unidades
motoras

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