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Gamma Motor Neuron
A gamma motor neuron (γ motor neuron), also called gamma motoneuron, or fusimotor neuron, is a type of lower motor neuron that takes part in the process of muscle contraction, and represents about 30% of ( Aγ) fibers going to the muscle. Like alpha motor neurons, their cell bodies are located in the anterior grey column of the spinal cord. They receive input from the reticular formation of the pons in the brainstem. Their axons are smaller than those of the alpha motor neurons, with a diameter of only 5 μm. Unlike the alpha motor neurons, gamma motor neurons do not directly adjust the lengthening or shortening of muscles. However, their role is important in keeping muscle spindles taut, thereby allowing the continued firing of alpha neurons, leading to muscle contraction. These neurons also play a role in adjusting the sensitivity of muscle spindles. The presence of myelination in gamma motor neurons allows a conduction velocity of 4 to 24 meters per second, si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muscle Spindle
Muscle spindles are stretch receptors within the body of a skeletal muscle that primarily detect changes in the length of the muscle. They convey length information to the central nervous system via afferent nerve fibers. This information can be processed by the brain as proprioception. The responses of muscle spindles to changes in length also play an important role in regulating the contraction of muscles, for example, by activating motor neurons via the stretch reflex to resist muscle stretch. The muscle spindle has both sensory and motor components. * Sensory information conveyed by primary type Ia sensory fibers which spiral around muscle fibres within the spindle, and secondary type II sensory fibers * Activation of muscle fibres within the spindle by up to a dozen gamma motor neurons and to a lesser extent by one or two beta motor neurons ''.'' Structure Muscle spindles are found within the belly of a skeletal muscle. Muscle spindles are fusiform (spindle-shaped), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intrafusal Muscle Fiber
Intrafusal muscle fibers are skeletal muscle fibers that serve as specialized sensory organs ( proprioceptors). They detect the amount and rate of change in length of a muscle.Casagrand, Janet (2008) ''Action and Movement: Spinal Control of Motor Units and Spinal Reflexes.'' University of Colorado, Boulder. They constitute the muscle spindle, and are innervated by both sensory (afferent) and motor (efferent) fibers. Intrafusal muscle fibers are not to be confused with extrafusal muscle fibers, which contract, generating skeletal movement and are innervated by alpha motor neurons. Structure Types There are two types of intrafusal muscle fibers: nuclear bag fibers and nuclear chain fibers. They bear two types of sensory ending, known as annulospiral and flower-spray endings. Both ends of these fibers contract, but the central region only stretches and does not contract. Intrafusal muscle fibers are walled off from the rest of the muscle by an outer connective tissue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extrafusal Muscle Fiber
Extrafusal muscle fibers are the standard skeletal muscle fibers that are innervated by alpha motor neurons and generate tension by contracting, thereby allowing for skeletal movement. They make up the large mass of skeletal striated muscle tissue and are attached to bone by fibrous tissue extensions (tendons). Each alpha motor neuron and the extrafusal muscle fibers innervated by it make up a motor unit. The connection between the alpha motor neuron and the extrafusal muscle fiber is a neuromuscular junction, where the neuron's signal, the action potential, is transduced to the muscle fiber by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Extrafusal muscle fibers are not to be confused with intrafusal muscle fibers, which are innervated by sensory nerve endings in central noncontractile parts and by gamma motor neurons in contractile ends and thus serve as a sensory proprioceptor. Extrafusal muscle fibers can be generated in vitro (in a dish) from pluripotent stem cells through d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beta Motor Neuron
Beta motor neurons (β motor neurons), also called beta motoneurons, are a few kind of lower motor neuron, along with alpha motor neurons and gamma motor neurons. Beta motor neurons innervate intrafusal fibers of muscle spindles with collaterals to extrafusal fibers - a type of slow twitch fiber. Also, axons of alpha, beta, and gamma motor neurons become myelinated. Moreover, these efferent neurons originate from the anterior grey column of the spinal cord and travel to skeletal muscles. However, the larger diameter alpha motor fibers require higher conduction velocity than beta and gamma. Types There are two kinds of beta motor neuron (as gamma motor neuron) that include: *Static beta motor neurons. These motor neurons innervate nuclear chain fibers of muscle spindles, with collaterals to extrafusal muscle fibers. *Dynamic beta motor neurons. The dynamic type innervates nuclear bag fibers of muscle spindles, with collaterals to extrafusal muscle fibers. Gamma motor neur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proprioception
Proprioception ( ) is the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. Proprioception is mediated by proprioceptors, a type of sensory receptor, located within muscles, tendons, and joints. Most animals possess multiple subtypes of proprioceptors, which detect distinct kinesthetic parameters, such as joint position, movement, and load. Although all mobile animals possess proprioceptors, the structure of the sensory organs can vary across species. Proprioceptive signals are transmitted to the central nervous system, where they are integrated with information from other Sensory nervous system, sensory systems, such as Visual perception, the visual system and the vestibular system, to create an overall representation of body position, movement, and acceleration. In many animals, sensory feedback from proprioceptors is essential for stabilizing body posture and coordinating body movement. System overview In vertebrates, limb movement and velocity (muscle length and the rate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motor Neurons
A motor neuron (or motoneuron), also known as efferent neuron is a neuron whose cell body is located in the motor cortex, brainstem or the spinal cord, and whose axon (fiber) projects to the spinal cord or outside of the spinal cord to directly or indirectly control effector organs, mainly muscles and glands. There are two types of motor neuron – upper motor neurons and lower motor neurons. Axons from upper motor neurons synapse onto interneurons in the spinal cord and occasionally directly onto lower motor neurons. The axons from the lower motor neurons are efferent nerve fibers that carry signals from the spinal cord to the effectors. Types of lower motor neurons are alpha motor neurons, beta motor neurons, and gamma motor neurons. A single motor neuron may innervate many myocyte, muscle fibres and a muscle fibre can undergo many action potentials in the time taken for a single Muscle_contraction, muscle twitch. Innervation takes place at a neuromuscular junction and twitches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sensory Neurons
Sensory neurons, also known as afferent neurons, are neurons in the nervous system, that convert a specific type of stimulus, via their receptors, into action potentials or graded receptor potentials. This process is called sensory transduction. The cell bodies of the sensory neurons are located in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord. The sensory information travels on the afferent nerve fibers in a sensory nerve, to the brain via the spinal cord. Spinal nerves transmit external sensations via sensory nerves to the brain through the spinal cord. The stimulus can come from exteroreceptors outside the body, for example those that detect light and sound, or from interoreceptors inside the body, for example those that are responsive to blood pressure or the sense of body position. Types and function Sensory neurons in vertebrates are predominantly pseudounipolar or bipolar, and different types of sensory neurons have different sensory receptors that respond to di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Chain Fiber
A nuclear chain fiber is a specialized sensory organ contained within a muscle. Nuclear chain fibers are intrafusal fibers that, along with nuclear bag fibers, make up the muscle spindle responsible for the detection of changes in muscle length. There are 3–9 nuclear chain fibers per muscle spindle that are half the size of the nuclear bag fibers. Their nuclei are aligned in a chain and they excite the secondary nerve. They are static, whereas the nuclear bag fibers are dynamic in comparison. The name "nuclear chain" refers to the structure of the central region of the fiber, where the sensory axons wrap around the intrafusal fibers. The secondary nerve association involves an efferent and afferent pathway that measure the stress and strain placed on the muscle (usually the extrafusal fibers connected from the muscle portion to a bone). The afferent pathway resembles a spring wrapping around the nuclear chain fiber and connecting to one of its ends away from the bone. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Bag Fiber
A nuclear bag fiber is a type of intrafusal muscle fiber that lies in the center of a muscle spindle. Each has many nuclei concentrated in bags and they cause excitation of the primary sensory fibers. There are two kinds of bag fibers based upon contraction speed and motor innervation. #BAG2 fibers are the largest. They have no striations in middle region and swell to enclose nuclei, hence their name. #BAG1 fibers, smaller than BAG2. Both bag types extend beyond the spindle capsule. These sense dynamic length of the muscle. They are sensitive to length and velocity. See also * Nuclear chain fiber * List of distinct cell types in the adult human body The list of human cell types provides an enumeration and description of the various specialized cells found within the human body, highlighting their distinct functions, characteristics, and contributions to overall physiological processes. Cell ... References External links * http://www.unmc.edu/Physiology/Mann/mann11.html ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mechanoreceptors
A mechanoreceptor, also called mechanoceptor, is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. Mechanoreceptors are located on sensory neurons that convert mechanical pressure into electrical signals that, in animals, are sent to the central nervous system. Vertebrate mechanoreceptors Cutaneous mechanoreceptors Cutaneous mechanoreceptors respond to mechanical stimuli that result from physical interaction, including pressure and vibration. They are located in the skin, like other cutaneous receptors. They are all innervated by Aβ fibers, except the mechanorecepting free nerve endings, which are innervated by Aδ fibers. Cutaneous mechanoreceptors can be categorized by what kind of sensation they perceive, by the rate of adaptation, and by morphology. Furthermore, each has a different receptive field. By sensation * The Slowly Adapting type 1 (SA1) mechanoreceptor, with the Merkel corpuscle end-organ (also known as Merkel discs) detect sustaine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velocity
Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical quantity, quantity, meaning that both magnitude and direction are needed to define it. The Scalar (physics), scalar absolute value (Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude) of velocity is called , being a coherent derived unit whose quantity is measured in the International System of Units, SI (metric system) as metres per second (m/s or m⋅s−1). For example, "5 metres per second" is a scalar, whereas "5 metres per second east" is a vector. If there is a change in speed, direction or both, then the object is said to be undergoing an ''acceleration''. Definition Average velocity The average velocity of an object over a period of time is its Displacement (geometry), change in position, \Delta s, divided by the duration of the period, \Delt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
