Muscle Spindles
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]   |
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Musculoskeletal
The human musculoskeletal system (also known as the human locomotor system, and previously the activity system) is an organ system that gives humans the ability to move using their muscular and skeletal systems. The musculoskeletal system provides form, support, stability, and movement to the body. The human musculoskeletal system is made up of the bones of the skeleton, muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, joints, and other connective tissue that supports and binds tissues and organs together. The musculoskeletal system's primary functions include supporting the body, allowing motion, and protecting vital organs. The skeletal portion of the system serves as the main storage system for calcium and phosphorus and contains critical components of the hematopoietic system. This system describes how bones are connected to other bones and muscle fibers via connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments. The bones provide stability to the body. Muscles keep bones in place and also ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Spinal Cord
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal cord is hollow and contains a structure called the central canal, which contains cerebrospinal fluid. The spinal cord is also covered by meninges and enclosed by the neural arches. Together, the brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. In humans, the spinal cord is a continuation of the brainstem and anatomically begins at the occipital bone, passing out of the foramen magnum and then enters the spinal canal at the beginning of the cervical vertebrae. The spinal cord extends down to between the first and second lumbar vertebrae, where it tapers to become the cauda equina. The enclosing bony vertebral column protects the relatively shorter spinal cord. It is around long in adult men and around long in adult women. The diam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Synapse
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that allows a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or a target effector cell. Synapses can be classified as either chemical or electrical, depending on the mechanism of signal transmission between neurons. In the case of electrical synapses, neurons are coupled bidirectionally with each other through gap junctions and have a connected cytoplasmic milieu. These types of synapses are known to produce synchronous network activity in the brain, but can also result in complicated, chaotic network level dynamics. Therefore, signal directionality cannot always be defined across electrical synapses. Chemical synapses, on the other hand, communicate through neurotransmitters released from the presynaptic neuron into the synaptic cleft. Upon release, these neurotransmitters bind to specific receptors on the postsynaptic membrane, inducing an electrical or chemical response in the target neuron ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gamma Motor Neurons
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, signifi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Efferent Nerve Fiber
Efferent nerve fibers are axons (nerve fibers) of efferent neurons that exit a particular region. These terms have a slightly different meaning in the context of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS). The efferent fiber is a long process projecting far from the neuron's body that carries nerve impulses away from the central nervous system toward the peripheral effector organs (muscles and glands). A bundle of these fibers constitute an efferent nerve. The opposite direction of neural activity is afferent conduction, which carries impulses by way of the afferent nerve fibers of sensory neurons. In the nervous system, there is a "closed loop" system of sensation, decision, and reactions. This process is carried out through the activity of sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons. In the CNS, afferent and efferent projections can be from the perspective of any given brain region. That is, each brain region has its own unique set of affe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Axon
An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis) or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences) is a long, slender cellular extensions, projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in Vertebrate, vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action potentials away from the Soma (biology), nerve cell body. The function of the axon is to transmit information to different neurons, muscles, and glands. In certain sensory neurons (pseudounipolar neurons), such as those for touch and warmth, the axons are called afferent nerve fibers and the electrical impulse travels along these from the peripheral nervous system, periphery to the cell body and from the cell body to the spinal cord along another branch of the same axon. Axon dysfunction can be the cause of many inherited and acquired neurological disorders that affect both the Peripheral nervous system, peripheral and Central nervous system, central ne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ion-channels
Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by Gating (electrophysiology), gating the flow of ions across the cell membrane, controlling the flow of ions across secretion, secretory and epithelial cells, and regulating cell (biology), cell volume. Ion channels are present in the membranes of all cells. Ion channels are one of the two classes of ionophore, ionophoric proteins, the other being ion transporters. The study of ion channels often involves biophysics, electrophysiology, and pharmacology, while using techniques including voltage clamp, patch clamp, immunohistochemistry, X-ray crystallography, fluoroscopy, and RT-PCR. Their classification as molecules is referred to as channelomics. Basic features There are two distinctive features of ion channels that differentiate them from other types of ion ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Muscle Spindle LM HE Stain
Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to contract. Muscle tissue contains special contractile proteins called actin and myosin which interact to cause movement. Among many other muscle proteins, present are two regulatory proteins, troponin and tropomyosin. Muscle is formed during embryonic development, in a process known as myogenesis. Skeletal muscle tissue is striated consisting of elongated, multinucleate muscle cells called muscle fibers, and is responsible for movements of the body. Other tissues in skeletal muscle include tendons and perimysium. Smooth and cardiac muscle contract involuntarily, without conscious intervention. These muscle types may be activated both through the interaction of the central nervous system as well as by innervation from peripheral plexus or endocrine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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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]   |
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Intrafusal Muscle Fibers
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 sheat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |