NERVOUS SYSTEM CELLS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Neurons
- receive stimuli, conduct action potentials,
and transmit signals to other neurons or
effector organs.
Glial cells
- supportive cells of the CNS and PNS,
meaning these cells do not conduct action
potentials. Instead, glial cells carry out
different functions that enhance neuron
function and maintain normal conditions
within nervous tissue.

NEURONS
A neuron (nerve cell) has a:
Nervous System Functions: ● Cell body – which contains a single
● Receiving sensory input nucleus
● Dendrite – which is a cytoplasmic
● Integrating information extension from the cell body, that usually
receives information from other neurons
● Controlling muscles and glands and transmits the information to the cell
body
● Maintaining homeostasis
● Axon – which is a single long cell process
● Establishing and maintaining mental activity that leaves the cell body at the axon hillock
and conducts sensory signals to the CNS
and motor signals away from the CNS
MAIN DIVISION OF NERVOUS
SYSTEM STRUCTURAL TYPES OF NEURON
Central nervous system (CNS)
- brain and spinal cord Multipolar neurons have many dendrites and a
Peripheral nervous system (PNS) single axon. Most of the neurons within the CNS
- All the nervous tissue outside the CNS and nearly all motor neurons are multipolar.
Sensory division
- Conducts action potentials from sensory Bipolar neurons have two processes: one
receptors to the CNS dendrite and one axon. Bipolar neurons are located
Motor division in some sensory organs, such as in the retina of
- Conducts action potentials to effector the eye and in the nasal cavity.
organs, such as muscles and glands
Somatic nervous system Pseudo-unipolar neurons have a single process
- Transmits action potentials from the CNS to extending from the cell body, which divides into two
skeletal muscles. processes as short distance from the cell body.
Autonomic nervous system
- Transmits action potentials from the CNS to The two extensions function as a single axon
cardiac with small, dendrite-like sensory receptors at the
Enteric nervous system periphery.
- A special nervous system found only in the
digestive tract.

GLIAL CELLS
- Glial cells are the supportive cells of the
CNS and PNS.
● Astrocytes serve as the major supporting
cells in the CNS.
- Astrocytes can stimulate or inhibit the
signaling activity of nearby neurons and
form the blood-brain barrier.
● Ependymal cells line the cavities in the
brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid.
● Microglial cells act in an immune function
in the CNS by removing bacteria and cell
debris.
● Oligodendrocytes provide myelin to
neurons in the CNS.
● Schwann cells provide myelin to neurons
in the PNS.
MYELIN SHEATH
- are specialized layers that wrap around the
axons of some neurons, those neurons are
termed, myelinated.
- Myelin is an excellent insulator that
prevents almost all ion movement across
the cell membrane.
- Gaps in the myelin sheath, called nodes of
Ranvier, occur about every millimeter.
- Ion movement can occur at the nodes of
Ranvier.
- Myelination of an axon increases the speed
and efficiency of action potential generation
along the axon.
-Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the
myelin sheath that causes loss of
muscle function.
Unmyelinated Neurons - lack the myelin sheaths.
- A typical small nerve, which consists of
axons of multiple neurons, usually contains
more unmyelinated axons than myelinated
axons.
-
ORGANIZATION OF NERVOUS
TISSUE
- The nervous tissue varies in color due to
the abundance or absence of myelinated
axons.
Gray matter consists of groups of neuron cell
bodies and their dendrites, where there is very
little myelin.
White matter consists of bundles of parallel
axons with their myelin sheaths, which are
whitish in color.
MEMBRANE POTENTIALS
- Resting membrane potentials and action
potentials occur in neurons.
- These potentials are mainly due to
differences in concentrations of ions across
the membrane, membrane channels, and
the sodium-potassium pump.
- Membrane channels include leak channels
and gated channels.
LEAK MEMBRANE CHANNELS
- there are 50 to 100 times more K+ leak
channels than Na+ leak channels,
- the resting membrane has much greater
permeability to K+than to Na+; therefore,
the K+ leak channels have
the greatest contribution to the resting
membrane potential.
 GATED MEMBRANE CHANNELS
- Gated channels are closed until opened by
specific signals.
- Chemically gated channels are opened by
neurotransmitters or other chemicals,
whereas voltage-gated channels are opened by a
change in membrane potential.
- When opened, the gated channels can
change the membrane potential and are
thus responsible for the action potential.
SODIUM POTASSIUM PUMP
- The sodium-potassium pump compensates
for the constant leakage of ions through
leak channels.
- is required to maintain the greater
concentration of Na+ outside the cell
membrane and K+ inside.
- The pump actively transports K+ into the
cell and Na+ out of the cell.
- It is estimated that the sodium-potassium
pump consumes 25% of all the ATP in a
typical cell and 70% of the ATP in a neuron.
RESTING MEMBRANE POTENTIAL
The resting membrane potential exists because of:
● The concentration of K+ being higher on the
inside of the cell membrane and the
concentration of Na+ being higher on the
outside
● The presence of many negatively charged
molecules, such as proteins, inside the cell
that are too large to exit the cell
● The presence of leak protein channels in
the membrane that are more permeable to
K+ than it is to Na+
● In order to maintain the resting membrane
potential, the sodium-potassium pump
recreates the Na+ and K+ ion gradient by
pumping Na+ out of the cell and K+ into the
cell.
ACTION POTENTIAL
- Action potentials allow conductivity along
nerve or muscle membrane, similar to
electricity going along an electrical wire.
- The channels responsible for the action
potential are voltage-gated Na+ and K+
channels, which are closed during rest
(resting membrane potential)
- This movement of Na+, which is called a
local current, causes the inside of the cell
membrane to become positive, a change
called depolarization.
- If depolarization is large enough, Na+
enters the cell so that the local potential
reaches a threshold value.
- This threshold depolarization causes
voltage-gated Na+ channels to open,
generally at the axon hillock.
- The opening of these channels causes a
massive, 600-fold increase in membrane
permeability to Na+ Voltage-gated K+
channels also begin to open.
- The charge reversal causes Na+ channels
to close and Na+ then stops entering the
cell.
- During this time, more K+ channels are
opening and K+ leaves the cell, resulting in
repolarization.
- At the end of repolarization, the charge on
the cell membrane briefly becomes more
negative than the resting membrane
potential; this condition is called
hyperpolarization and occurs briefly.
.

UNMYELINATED AND
MYELINATED AXON ACTION
- Action potentials are conducted slowly in
unmyelinated axons and more rapidly in
myelinated axons.
- Action potentials along unmyelinated axons
occur along the entire membrane.
- Action potentials in myelinated axons occur
in a jumping pattern at the nodes of
Ranvier.
- This type of action potential conduction is
called saltatory conduction.
AXON CONDUCTION SPEED
- The speed of action potential conduction
varies widely, even among myelinated
axons; it is based on the diameter of axon
fibers.
- Medium-diameter, lightly myelinated axons,
characteristic of autonomic neurons,
conduct action potentials at the rate of about 3 to
15 meters per second (m/s).
- Large-diameter, heavily myelinated axons
conduct action potentials at the rate of 15 to
120 m/s.
SYNAPSE
A neuroneuronal synapse is a junction where
the axon of one neuron interacts with another
neuron.
- Chemical substances called
neurotransmitters are stored in synaptic
vesicles in the presynaptic terminal.
- An action potential reaching the presynaptic
terminal causes voltage-gated Ca2+
channels to open, and Ca2+ moves into the
cell.
- This influx of Ca2+ causes the release of
neurotransmitters by exocytosis from the
presynaptic terminal.
- The neurotransmitters diffuse across the
synaptic cleft and bind to specific receptor
molecules on the postsynaptic membrane
- The binding of neurotransmitters to these
membrane receptors causes chemically gated
channels for Na+, K+, or Cl− to open or close in
the postsynaptic membrane.
- The specific channel type and whether or
not the channel opens or closes depend on
the type of
- neurotransmitter in the presynaptic terminal
and the type of receptors on thpostsynaptic
membrane.
- The response may be either stimulation or
inhibition of an action potential in the
postsynaptic cell.
- If Na+ channels open, the postsynaptic cell
becomes depolarized, and an action
potential will result if threshold is reached.
- If K+ or Cl− channels open, the inside of the
Post synaptic cells tend to become more
negative, or hyperpolarized, and an action
potential is inhibited from occurring.
- There are many neurotransmitters, with the
best known being acetylcholine and
norepinephrine.
Neurotransmitters do not normally remain in
the synaptic cleft indefinitely, thus their
effects are short duration.
- These substances become reduced in
concentration when they are either rapidly
broken down by enzymes within the
synaptic cleft or are transported back into
the presynaptic terminal.
- An enzyme called acetylcholinesterase
breaks down the acetylcholine.
- Norepinephrine is either actively
transported back into the presynaptic
terminal or broken down by enzymes.
REFLEX
A reflex is an involuntary reaction in response to a
stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted
to the CNS.
- Reflexes allow a person to react to stimuli
more quickly than is possible if conscious
thought is involved.
- Most reflexes occur in the spinal cord or
brain stem rather than in the higher brain
centers.
A reflex arc is the neuronal pathway by which a
reflex occurs and has five basic components.
 REFLEX ARC COMPONENTS
1. A sensory receptor
2. A sensory neuron
3. Interneurons, which are neurons located
between and communicating with two other
neurons
4. A motor neuron
5. An effector organ (muscles or glands).
Note: The simplest reflex arcs do not involve
interneurons.
NUERONAL PATHWAY
(CONVERGING)
The CNS has simple to complex neuronal
pathways.
- A converging pathway is a simple
pathway in which two or more neurons
synapse with the same postsynaptic
neuron.
- This allows information transmitted in more
than one neuronal pathway to converge into
a single pathway.
NUERONAL PATHWAY
(DIVERGING)
A diverging pathway is a simple pathway in
which an axon from one neuron divides and
synapses with more than one other postsynaptic
neuron.
- This allows information transmitted in one
neuronal pathway to diverge into two or
more pathways.
SUMMATION
- A single presynaptic action potential usually
does not cause a sufficiently large
postsynaptic local potential to reach
threshold and produce an action potential in
the target cell.
- Many presynaptic action potentials are
needed in a process called summation.
- Spatial summation occurs when the local
potentials originate from different locations
on the postsynaptic neuron—for example,
from converging pathways.
- Temporal summation occurs when local
potentials overlap in time.
- This can occur from a single input that fires
rapidly, which allows the resulting local
potentials to overlap briefly.
- Spatial and temporal summation can lead to
stimulation or inhibition, depending on the
type of signal.
The nervous system can be divided into the
central nervous system and the
peripheral nervous system.
- The central nervous system
(CNS), consists of the brain and
spinal cord.
- The peripheral nervous system
(PNS) consists of all the nerves and
ganglia outside the brain and spinal
cord.
SPINAL CORD
- Extends from foramen magnum to 2nd
lumbar vertebra Protected by vertebral
column
- Spinal nerves allow movement
- If damaged paralysis can occur
Gray Matter- center of spinal cord
- looks like letter H or a butterfly
White Matter- outside of spinal cord
- contains myelinated fibers
WHITE MATTER IN SPINAL CORD
 - Located in the white matter of the CNS are
three columns: dorsal, ventral, and lateral.
- Columns contain ascending and
descending tracts.
Ascending tracts:
- axons that conduct action potentials toward
the brain
Descending tracts:
- axons that conduct action potentials away
from the brain
GRAY MATTER IN SPINAL CORD
The gray matter has a letter H shape with
Horns.
Posterior horns:
- contain axons which synapse with
interneurons
Anterior horns:
- contain somatic neurons
Lateral horns:
- contain autonomic neurons
Central canal:
- fluid filled space in center of cord
REFLEX
- A stretch reflex occurs when muscle
contract in response to a stretching force
applied to them.
- The knee-jerk reflex, or patellar reflex is a
classic example of a stretch reflex.
- The withdrawal reflex, or flexor reflex, is
to remove a limb or another body part from
a painful stimulus.
- The sensory receptors are pain receptors,
and stimulation of these receptors initiates
the reflex.
SPINAL NERVES
- Arise along spinal cord from union of
dorsal roots and ventral roots
- Contain axons sensory and somatic
neurons
- Located between vertebra
- Categorized by region of vertebral column
from which it emerges (C for cervical)
- 31 pairs
- Organized in 3 plexuses
CERVICAL PLEXUS
- Spinal nerves C1-4
- Innervates muscles attached to hyoid bone
and neck
- Contains phrenic nerve which innervates
diaphragm
BRACHIAL PLEXUS
- Originates from spinal nerves C5-T1
- Supply nerves to upper limb, shoulder,
hand
LUMBOSACRAL PLEXUS
- Originates from spinal nerves L1 to S4
- Supply nerves lower limbs
DERMATOME
- A dermatome is the area of skin supplied
with sensory innervation by a pair of spinal
nerves.
- Each of the spinal nerves except C1 has a
specific cutaneous sensory distribution.
BRAINSTEM COMPONENTS
● Medulla oblongata
Location: continuous with spinal cord
Function: regulates heart rate, blood vessel
diameter, breathing, swallowing, vomiting,
hiccupping, coughing, sneezing, balance
Other: pyramids: involved in conscious control of
skeletal muscle
● Pons
Location: above medulla, bridge between
cerebrum and cerebellum
Function:breathing, chewing, salivation,
swallowing, relay station between cerebrum and
cerebellum
● Midbrain
Location: above pons
Function: coordinated eye movement, pupil
diameter, turning head toward noise
Other: the dorsal part has the four colliculi which
are involved in visual and auditory reflexes
● Reticular Formation
Location:scattered throughout brainstem
Function:regulates cyclical motor function, Cerebral Cortex
respiration, walking, chewing, arousing and - Location: surface of cerebrum, composed
maintaining consciousness, regulates sleep-wake of gray matter
cycle - Function: controls thinking,
● Cerebellum communicating, remembering,
Location: attached to the brainstem by the understanding, and initiates involuntary
cerebellar peduncles movements
Characteristics:
- means little brain CEREBRUM SURFACE FEATURES
- cortex is composed of gyri, sulci, gray Gyri: folds on cerebral cortex that increase
matter surface area
Functions: Sulci: shallow indentations
- controls balance Fissure: deep indentations
- muscle tone CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES
- coordination of fine motor Left hemisphere: controls right side of
body responsible for math, analytic, and
DIENCEPHALON COMPONENTS speech
● Thalamus Right hemisphere:controls left side of
Characteristics: largest portion of diencephalon body responsible for music, art, abstract
Function: influences moods and detects pain ideas
● Epithalamus: Corpus callosum: connection between the
Location: above thalamus two hemispheres
Function: emotional and visceral response to LOBES OF THE BRAIN
odors
● Hypothalamus ● Frontal lobe
Location: below thalamus Location: front
Characteristics: controls pituitary gland and is Function: controls voluntary motor functions,
connected to it by infundibulum aggression, moods, smell
Function: controls homeostasis, body temp, thirst, ● Parietal lobe
hunger, fear, rage, sexual emotions Location: top
Function: evaluates sensory input such as touch,
CEREBRUM CHARACTERISTICS pain, pressure, temperature, taste
- Largest portion of brain ● Occipital lobe
Location: back
Divisions: Function: vision
● Right hemisphere ● Temporal lobe
● Left hemisphere - separated by Location: sides
longitudinal fissure Function: hearing, smell, memory
Lobes: frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal,
insula (fifth lobe)

CEREBRUM COMPONENTS SENSORY FUNCTIONS

- CNS constantly receives sensory input
 - We are unaware of most sensory input
- Sensory input is vital of our survival and
normal functions
ASCENDING TRACTS
- Ascending pathways are sensory tracts
carrying impulses up the spinal cord to
specific areas of the brain.
- Tracts are usually given composite names
that indicate their origin and termination.
- The names of ascending tracts usually
begin with the prefix spino-, indicating that
they begin in the spinal cord, such as the
spinothalamic.
- Sensory tracts typically cross from one side
of the body in the spinal cord or brainstem
to the other side of the body.
- The left side of the brain receives sensory
input from the right side of the body, and
vice versa.
DORSAL COLUMN
SENSORY AREAS OF CEREBRAL CORTEX
Primary sensory areas:
- where ascending tracts project
- where sensations are perceived
Primary somatic sensory cortex:
- general sensory area
- in parietal lobe
- sensory input such as pain, pressure, temp.
SOMATIC MOTOR FUNCTION
Somatic motor neurons innervate skeletal
muscles.
The somatic motor system is responsible for:
- maintaining the body’s posture and balance
- moving the trunk, head, limbs, tongue, and
eyes
- communicating through facial expressions
and speech
- Reflexes mediated through the spinal cord
and brainstem are responsible for some
body movements that are involuntary.
- Voluntary movements are consciously
activated to achieve a specific goal, such as
walking or typing.
- Voluntary movements result from the
stimulation of neural circuits that consist of
two motor neurons: upper and lower motor
neurons.
Upper motor neurons - have cell bodies in the
cerebral cortex and project down the spinal cord to
synapse with lower motor neurons.
Lower motor neurons - have cell bodies in the
anterior horn of the spinal cord gray matter or in
cranial nerve nuclei.
- The axons of lower motor neurons leave
the central nervous system and extend
through spinal or cranial nerves to skeletal
muscles.
MOTOR AREAS OF CEREBRAL CORTEX
Primary motor cortex:
- frontal lobe
- control voluntary motor movement
Premotor area:
- frontal lobe DESCENDING TRACTS
- where motor functions are organized before
initiation Descending tracts are motor tracts carrying
Prefrontal area: impulses down the spinal cord, either terminating
- motivation and foresight to plan and initiate there or in the brainstem.
movement - Tracts in the lateral columns are most
DESCENDING TRACTS Important in controlling goal-directed limb
- Descending tracts are motor tracts carrying movements, such as reaching and
impulses down the spinal cord, either Manipulating.
terminating there or in the brainstem. - Tracts in the ventral columns, such as the
reticulospinal tract, are most important for
- The corticospinal tracts are considered
direct because they extend directly from maintaining posture, balance, and limb
upper motor neurons in the cerebral cortex position
to lower motor neurons in the spinal cord. - The left side of the brain controls skeletal
muscles on the right side of the body, and
- Some tracts are considered indirect
because they originate in the brainstem but vice versa.
are indirectly controlled by the cerebral BASAL NUCLEI
cortex, basal nuclei, and cerebellum. Group of functionally related nuclei
Plan, organize, coordinate motor
Upper motor neurons - have cell bodies in
the cerebral cortex and project down the movements and posture
spinal cord to synapse with lower motor Corpus striatum:
neurons. - deep in cerebrum
Lower motor neurons - have cell bodies in Substantia nigra:
the anterior horn of the spinal cord gray
matter or in cranial nerve nuclei. - in midbrain

MOTOR AREAS OF CEREBRAL

CORTEX
Primary motor cortex:
- frontal lobe
- control voluntary motor movement
Premotor area:
- frontal lobe
- where motor functions are organized before
Initiation
Prefrontal area:
- motivation and foresight to plan and initiate
movement
 - can last for a few minutes or permanently
SPEECH Episodic memory:
Mainly in left hemisphere - places or events
Sensory speech (Wernicke’s area): Learning:
- parietal lobe - utilizing past memories
- where words are heard and comprehended LIMBIC SYSTEM AND FUNCTION
Sensory speech (Wernicke’s area): The limbic system influences long-term
- parietal lobe declarative memory, emotions, visceral
- where words are heard and comprehended responses to emotions, motivation, and
Mood.
BRAIN WAVES AND CONSCIOUSNESS - Lesions in the limbic system can result in
- Used to diagnose and determine treatment voracious appetite, increased (often
for brain disorders perverse) sexual activity, and docility
Electroencephalogram (EEG): (including loss of normal fear and anger
- electrodes plated on scalp to record brain’s responses).
electrical activity MENINGES
BRAIN WAVES
Alpha waves: are three connective tissue layers that surround the
- person is awake in quiet state brain and spinal cord.
Beta waves: Dura mater - The outermost (most superficial)
- intense mental activity meningeal which is the toughest of all the
Delta waves: meninges.
- deep sleep Arachnoid mater - The second meningeal
Theta waves: membrane is very thin.
- in children Pia mater - The third meningeal membrane, is very
tightly bound to the surface of the brain and spinal
MEMORY cord.
Encoding: VENTRICLES
- brief retention of sensory input received by
brain while something is scanned, The CNS contains fluid-filled cavities
evaluated, and acted up - Each cerebral hemisphere contains a
- also called sensory memory relatively large cavity called the lateral
- lasts less than a second ventricle.
Consolidated: third ventricle - is a smaller, midline
- data that has been encoded cavity located in the center of the
- temporal lobe diencephalon between
- short term memory fourth ventricle - is located at the base
Storage: of the cerebellum and connected to the third
- long term memory ventricle by a narrow canal, called the
- few minutes or permanently (depends on cerebral aqueduct.
retrieval)
Retrieval: CEREBROSPINAL FLUID
- how often information is used Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) bathes the brain and
TYPES OF MEMORY spinal cord, providing a protective cushion around
Short-term memory: the CNS.
- info. is retained for a few seconds or min.
- bits of info. (usually 7)

- The ependymal cells located in the choroid

plexuses of the ventricles produce the CSF.
Long-term memory:
 - CSF fills the brain ventricles, the central
canal of the spinal cord, and the
subarachnoid space.
- The CSF flows from the lateral ventricles
into the third ventricle and then through the
cerebral aqueduct into the fourth ventricle.
- A small amount of CSF enters the central
canal of the spinal cord.
arachnoid granulations - Masses of arachnoid
tissue. Penetrate the superior sagittal sinus, a dural
venous sinus in the longitudinal fissure, and CSF
passes from the subarachnoid space into the blood
through these granulations.
CRANIAL NERVE
- 12 pair of cranial nerves
- Named by roman numerals
- 2 categories of functions: sensory and
motor
Cranial Nerve I (Olfactory) - is a pure sensory
nerve for smell
Cranial Nerve II (Optic) - is a pure sensory nerve
for vision
Cranial Nerve III (Oculomotor) - is a pure
motor nerve for eye movement
Cranial Nerve IV (Trochlear) - is a pure motor
nerve for eye movement
Cranial Nerve V (Trigeminal) - is both a motor
and sensory nerves. It is sensory for pain, touch,
and temperature for the eye and lower and upper
jaws. It is a motor for muscles of chewing.
Cranial Nerve VI (Abducens) - is a pure motor
nerve for eye movement
Cranial Nerve VII (Facial) - is both a sensory
and motor nerve. It is sensory for taste and
motor for facial expression.
Cranial Nerve VIII (Vestibulocochlear) - is a
pure sensory nerve for hearing and equilibrium
Cranial Nerve IX (Glossopharyngeal) - is both
a motor and sensory nerve. It is sensory for
taste and motor for swallowing.
Cranial Nerve X (Vagus) is both a motor and
sensory nerve. It is a sensory and motor for organs
in the thoracic and abdominal cavities.
Cranial Nerve XI (Accessory) is a pure motor
nerve for the trapezius, sternocleidomastoid,
and muscles of the larynx.
Cranial Nerve XII (Hypoglossal) is a pure
motor nerve for the tongue
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
- The autonomic neurons innervate smooth
muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands.
- Composed 2 divisions
- Increased activity in sympathetic neurons
generally prepares the individual for
physical activity.
- Parasympathetic stimulation generally
activates involuntary functions, such as
digestion, that are normally associated with
the body at rest.
- The first neuron is called the preganglionic
neuron; the second neuron is the
postganglionic neuron.
- The neurons are so named because
preganglionic neurons synapse with
postganglionic neurons in autonomic
ganglia within the PNS.
SYMPATHETIC DIVISION
The sympathetic division cell bodies of
sympathetic preganglionic neurons are in the
lateral horn of the spinal cord gray matter
between the first thoracic (T1) and the second
lumbar (L2) segments.
PARASYMPATHETIC DIVISION
- Some preganglionic cell bodies of the
parasympathetic division are located within
the lateral part of the central gray matter of
the spinal cord in the regions that give rise
to spinal nerves S2 through S4.
- Most of the thoracic and abdominal organs
are supplied by preganglionic neurons of
the vagus nerve extending from the
brainstem.
SOMATIC AND AUTONOMIC NERVOUS
SYSTEM
 MUSCULAR TISSUE
3 TYPES OF TISSUES
Skeletal muscle, Cardiac muscle, Smooth muscle

FUNCTIONS OF MUSCULAR TISSUE

● Producing body movements
● Stabilizing body positions
● Storing and mobilizing substances within the body
● Generating heat
PROPERTIES OF MUSCULAR
● Electrical excitability
● Contractility
● Extensibility
● Elasticity

SKELETAL MUSCLE TISSUE

 MUSCLE PROTEINS
Contractile: Regulatory: Structural
- Myosin - Troponin - Titin
- Actin - Tropomyosin - Nebulin
- Alpha-actin
- Myomesin
- Dystrophin
 CONTRACTION AND
RELAXATION OF SKELETAL
MUSCLE FIBERS
THE SLIDING FILAMENT MECHANISM
- Myosin pulls on actin, causing the thin filament to slide inward
- Consequently, Z discs move toward each other and the sarcomere shortens
- Thanks to the structural proteins, there is a transmission of force throughout the entire muscle,
resulting in whole muscle contraction
 THE NUEROMUSCULAR
JUNCTION
The events at the NMJ produce a muscle action potential:
- Voltage-gated calcium channels in a neuron’s synaptic end bulb open, resulting in an influx of calcium.
This causes exocytosis of a neurotransmitter (NT) into the synaptic cleft.
- NT binds to ligand-gated Na+ channels on the motor end plate, which causes an influx of Na+ into the
Muscle This depolarizes the muscle and results in Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
- NT gets broken down by acetylcholinesterase
 MUSCLE METABOLISM
How do muscles derive the ATP necessary to power the contraction cycle?
- Creatine phosphate
- Anaerobic glycolysis
- Cellular respiration
 MUSCLE FATIGUE
Muscle fatigue is the inability to maintain force of contraction after prolonged activity The onset of fatigue is
due to:
- Inadequate release of Ca2+ from SR
- Depletion of CP, oxygen, and nutrients
- Build up of lactic acid and ADP
- Insufficient release of ACh at NMJ
CENTRAL FATIGUE
- Central fatigue occurs due to changes in the central nervous system and generally results in cessation
of exercise.
OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AFTER EXERCISE.
The extra oxygen goes toward:
- Replenishing CP stores
- Converting lactate into pyruvate
- Reloading O2 onto myoglobin

CONTROL OF MUSCLE TENSION

The strength of a muscle contraction depends on how many motor units are activated
- A motor unit consists of a somatic motor neuron and the muscle fibers it innervates
- Activating only a few motor units will generally result in a weak muscle contraction
- Activating many motor units will generally result in a strong muscle contraction.
FREQUENCY OF STIMULATION
Wave summation occurs when a second action potential triggers muscle contraction before the first
contraction has finished
- Results in a stronger contraction
Unfused tetanus
Fused tetanus
MUSCLE TONE
Even when at rest, a skeletal muscle exhibits a small amount of tension, called tone
- Tone is established by the alternating, involuntary activation of small groups of motor units in a
muscle.
ISOTONIC VS. ISOMETRIC CONTRACTION
Isotonic – tension is constant while muscle length changes
- Concentric
- Eccentric
Isometric – muscle contracts but does not change length
 CARDIAC AND SMOOTH
MUSCLE

Cardiac Muscle
- Intercalated discs contain desmosomes and gap junctions that allow muscle action potentials to spread
from one muscle fiber to another
- Cardiac muscle cells have more mitochondria and their contractions last 10 to 15 times longer than
skeletal muscle contraction
FEW MORE FACTS ABOUT MUSCLE

Regeneration of Muscle Tissue

- Mature skeletal muscle fibers cannot undergo mitosis
- Hypertrophy
- Hyperplasia
- Smooth muscle and pericytes
DEVELOPMENT OF MUSCLE
Most muscles are derived from mesoderm which develops into somites
- Myotome
- Dermatome
- Sclerotome
Between 30–50 years of age, about 10% of our muscle tissue is replaced by fibrous connective tissue and
adipose tissue. Between 50–80 years of age another 40% of our muscle tissue is replaced. Consequences
are:
- Muscle strength and flexibility decreases
- Reflexes slow
- Slow oxidative fiber numbers increase