Anatomy and physiology of
muscle
Dr. Dini Sri Damayanti,MKes
There are four characteristics associated
with muscle tissue:
Excitability - Tissue can receive & respond to stimulation
Contractility - Tissue can shorten & thicken
Extensibility - Tissue can lengthen
Elasticity - After contracting or lengthening, tissue
always wants to return to its resting state
The characteristics of muscle tissue enable it to
perform some important functions, including:
Movement – both voluntary & involuntary
Maintaining posture
Supporting soft tissues within body cavities
Guarding entrances & exits of the body
Maintaining body temperature
Naming Skeletal Muscle
• The names assigned to muscles provide
clues to their identification.
– Orientation of muscle fibers
– Regional location
– Structural features
– Shape, length, size, superficial or deep
– Origin and insertion
– Primary function
Naming Skeletal Muscle
• Some muscles, often with Greek or Latin
roots, refer to the orientation of muscle
fibers. For example “rectus” means
straight and rectus muscle fibers generally
run along the long axis of the body.
• In a few cases, a muscle is such a
prominent feature that the regional name
alone can identify it, such as the
temporalis muscle of the head.
Naming Skeletal Muscle
• Other muscles are named after structural
features. For example, a biceps muscle
has two tendons of origin, whereas the
triceps has three.
• Muscle names can reflect shape, length,
size, and whether a muscle is visible at the
surface or lying beneath.
– Maximus means large.
– Minimus means small.
– Longus means long.
Naming Skeletal Muscle
• The first part of some names indicate the
origin and the second part the insertion,
such as the brachioradialis.
• Other names may indicate the primary
function of the muscle, such as the flexor
digitorum.
• Some muscles are named according to
their shape, such as the deltoid
(triangular), the trapezius (trapezoid), or
the rhomboids (diamond shape).
Shape of Muscles and
Fiber Arrangement
Parallel muscles (range of
motion
1. Flat (rectus abdominus)
2. Fusiform (biceps)
3. Strap (sartorius)
4. Radiate (trapezius)
5. Sphincter
Pennate (force)
1. Unipennate (biceps femoris)
2. Bipennate (rectus femoris)
3. Multipennate (deltoid)
Muscle Attachments
• Most muscles span joints
• Attaches to bone in two places:
1. Insertion: the moveable bone
2. Origin: the stationary bone
• Attachment types
1. Direct: attaches right onto bone
- ex. intercostal muscles of ribs
2. Indirect: via tendon or aponeurosis (sheet-like
tendon) to connect to bone
- leaves bone markings such as tubercle
Anatomy of the Muscular System
•Origin
Muscle attachment that remains
fixed
•Insertion
Muscle attachment that moves
•Action
What joint movement a muscle
produces
i.e. flexion, extension, abduction,
etc.
• For muscles to create a movement,
they can only pull, not push
• Muscles in the body rarely work alone,
& are usually arranged in groups
surrounding a joint
• A muscle that contracts to create the
desired action is known as an agonist or
prime mover
• A muscle that helps the agonist is a
synergist
• A muscle that opposes the action of the
agonist, therefore undoing the desired
action is an antagonist
• Muscle Types
There are three types of muscle
tissue:
Visceral, cardiac, and skeletal
Types of muscle tissue:
Skeletal muscle tissue
• Associated with & attached to the skeleton
• Under our conscious (voluntary) control
• Microscopically the tissue appears striated
• Cells are long, cylindrical & multinucleate
Cardiac muscle tissue
• Makes up myocardium of heart
• Unconsciously (involuntarily) controlled
• Microscopically appears striated
• Cells are short, branching & have a single nucleus
• Cells connect to each other at intercalated discs
Smooth (visceral) muscle tissue
• Makes up walls of organs & blood vessels
• Tissue is non-striated & involuntary
• Cells are short, spindle-shaped & have a single
nucleus ability to contract
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles of the Head and Neck
Figure 7-12(a)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles of the Head and Neck
Figure 7-12(c)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles of the Anterior Neck
Figure 7-13
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles of
the Spine
Figure 7-14
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Oblique and Rectus Muscles and
the Diaphragm
Figure 7-15(b)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles of
Thorach
And abdomen
Figure 7-15(a)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles that Move the Arm
Figure 7-18(a)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles of the Shoulder
Figure 7-17(b)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles of the Shoulder
Figure 7-17(a)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles that Move the Arm
Figure 7-18(b)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That Move the Forearm and Wrist
Figure 7-19
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That Move the Thigh
Figure 7-20(a)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That Move
the Thigh
Figure 7-20(b)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That Move the Leg
Figure 7-21
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That Move the Foot and Toes
Figure 7-22(a)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That Move
the Foot and Toes
Figure 7-22(b)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That Move
the Foot and Toes
Figure 7-22(c)
Anatomy of the Muscular System
Muscles That
Move the Foot
and Toes
Figure 7-22(d)
Muscle Fibers
•A Muscle Fiber = Muscle Cell
•Main content: bundles of proteins
(actin and myosin)
•Multinucleated
–to maintain high rate of protein
synthesis.
Insulation of Muscles
•Muscle cells must be insulated
from one another by specialized
membranes
•Muscle cells work electrically
– if not insulated, nerves cannot
control individual muscles.
• Epimysium surrounds
entire muscle
• Perimysium surrounds
muscle fascicles
• Endomysium surrounds
muscle fiber
Organisation of muscle
myofilamen muscle fiber fasciculus muscle
Microstructures
• Each muscle fiber (muscle cell), is
composed of many myofibrils.
– Organized system of cytoskeleton filaments of
actin and myosin proteins that do the actual
contracting
– Myofibrils are NOT CELLS
– A sarcomere is one segment of a myofibril
(muscle segments).
– The series of sarcomeres produce the striated
appearance of muscles
Sarcomere organization
• Myofibril composed of repeating series of
sarcomeres with dark A and light I bands.
• I bands intersected by Z discs mark the
outer edges of each sarcomere.
• Contraction happens within one
sarcomere.
Sarcomere Banding Pattern
Physiology of skeletal muscle contraction
• Skeletal muscles require stimulation from the nervous
system in order to contract
• Motor neurons are the cells that cause muscle fibers to
contract
cell body
dendrites
Synaptic terminals
axon (synaptic end bulbs)
telodendria
axon hillock
(motor neuron)
• Skeletal muscles are made up of thousands of muscle
fibers
• A single motor neuron may directly control a few fibers
within a muscle, or hundreds to thousands of muscle fibers
• All of the muscle fibers controlled by a single motor neuron
constitute a motor unit
Motor Unit
All the muscle cells controlled by one
nerve cell
The size of the motor unit determines how fine the
control of movement can be –
small motor units precise control (e.g. eye
muscles
large motor units gross control (e.g. leg
muscles)
PLAY Play IP Contraction of motor units p. 3-7
Motor Unit Ratios
• Back muscles
– 1:100
• Finger muscles
– 1:10
• Eye muscles
– 1:1
Recruitment is the ability to activate more motor units as
more force (tension) needs to be generated
Hypertrophy – “stressing” a muscle (i.e. exercise) causes
more myofilaments/myofibrils to be produced within muscle
fibers; allows for more “cross bridges” resulting in more force
(strength) as well as larger size
There are always some motor
units active, even when at rest.
This creates a resting tension
known as muscle tone, which
helps stabilize bones & joints, &
prevents atrophy
PLAY Play IP Contraction of motor units p. 3-7
Physiology of Skeletal Muscle Contraction
•Once an action potential (AP) is generated
at the motor end plate it will spread like an
electrical current along the sarcolemma of
the muscle fiber
• The AP will also spread into the T-tubules,
exciting the terminal cisternae of the
sarcoplasmic reticula
•This will cause Calcium (Ca+2 ) gates in the
SR to open, allowing Ca+2 to diffuse into the
sarcoplasm
•Calcium will bind to troponin (on the thin
myofilament), causing it to change its
shape. This then pulls tropomyosin away
from the active sites of actin molecules.
•The exposure of the active sites allow the
sliding of the filaments
Table 7-1
Physiology of Skeletal Muscle Contraction
• If there are no longer APs generated on
the motor neuron, no more Ach will be
released
• AchE will remove Ach from the motor end
plate, and AP transmission on the muscle
fiber will end
• Ca+2 gates in the SR will close & Ca+2 will
be actively transported back into the SR
• With Ca+2 removed from the sarcoplasm
(& from troponin), tropomyosin will re-cover
the active sites of actin
• No more cross-bridge interactions can
form
• Thin myofilaments slide back to their
resting state
Table 7-1
Concentric contraction
Length of muscle shortens
Muscle force is greater than the resistance
Static or Isometric contraction
No change in muscle length
Muscle force is equal to the resistance
Eccentric contraction
Muscle lengthens
Muscle force is less than the resistance
Types of Musculo-Skeletal Movement
Flexion
Extension
Hyperextension
Abduction, Adduction &
Circumduction
Rotation
Where Does the Energy Come
From?
• Energy is stored in the muscles in the form
of ATP
• ATP comes from the breakdown of glucose
during Cellular Respiration
• This all happens in the Mitochondria of the
cell
• When a muscle is fatigued (tired) it is
unable to contract because of lack of
Oxygen
