Muscle+Page



1. What a muscle looks like.
 * Smooth muscles are usually in sheets, or layers, with one layer of muscle behind the other.
 * Skeletal muscles — sometimes called **striated ** **muscle **— because the light and dark parts of the muscle fibers make them look striped.

2. The parts of a muscle.
 * The muscle is composed of muscular cells. Within the cells are myofibrils which contain sacromeres that are composed of actin and myosine proteins.
 * Individual muscle fibers are surrounded by endomysium.
 * Muscle fibers are bound together by paramysium into bundles.
 * Bundles are grouped together to form a muscle.

3. Different types of human muscles.
 * Skeletal (striated) muscles
 * Smooth muscles
 * Cardiac muscle

4. Functions of muscles.
 * Skeletal (striated) musclesmove your bones. These are the muscles that we can see and feel. Skeletal muscles attach to the bones through tendons. They come in pairs -- one muscleto move the bone in one direction and another to move it back the other way. Skeletal muscles can perform two types of contractions: short single contractions (twitch) and long, sustained contraction (tetanus).
 * Smooth muscles are found in the internal organs (digestive system, blood vessels, bladder, airways and, the uterus). Smooth muscle has the ability to stretch and maintain tension for long periods of time.
 * Cardiac muscle is found only in your heart. It can stretch in a limited way, like smooth muscle, and contract with the force of a skeletal muscle. Cardiac muscle is a twitch muscle.

5. How muscles interact with other parts of the human body.
 * Muscles connect with all of the other parts of the body.
 * Muscles in the heart pump blood throughout the body.
 * The diaphragm is a large muscle that allows us to breathe.
 * Muscles from our mouth to our stomach and beyond help us swallow food and move it through the digestive system.
 * Eyes have muscles that let us look around and see our surroundings.