Chapter 9 – Muscular System
Part 1 - Structure of a Skeletal Muscle
List the functions of muscle tissue.
List the three types of muscle tissue and describe the characteristics of each type.
Define muscle fibers, fascicle, tendon, and aponeurosis.
Describe the following layers of connective tissue that holds a muscle together: fascia,
epimysium, perimysium, and endomysium.
Describe the following structures associated with muscles: sarcolemma, transverse tubules,
sarcoplasm, myoglobin, myofibrils, sarcoplasmic reticulum, terminal cisterna, and triad.
Part 2 - Structure of a Skeletal Muscle cont’d
Describe the structure and function of the following myofibril proteins: thick filaments, myosin,
thin filaments, actin, troponin, tropomyosin, titin, and dystrophin.
Be able to identify the different parts of a sarcomere, and describe how the arrangement of thick
and thin filaments create the light and dark bands.
Describe the genetic disorder Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Part 3 - Skeletal Muscle Contraction
Describe the events of the neuromuscular junction.
Which type of motor neuron innervates skeletal muscles?
Which neurotransmitter is used to stimulate skeletal muscles?
Describe excitation-contraction coupling.
Beginning with cross-bridge formation, describe the events of the cross-bridge cycle. Describe
how ATP is used during this cycle.
Describe what causes rigor mortis.
Describe how a sarcomere changes during muscle contraction.
Describe the events of muscle relaxation. Demonstrate an understanding of why ATP is needed
for muscle relaxation.
Part 4 - Energy Sources for Muscle Contraction
Describe how creatine phosphate is used as an immediate source of ATP during muscle
contraction.
Describe how glycolysis is used to generate ATP during the anaerobic phase of cellular
respiration.
Identify lactic acid as being a byproduct of anerobic respiration and describe what happens to it
after it is produced by a muscle cell.
Describe how mitochondria can produce much larger amounts of ATP during aerobic respiration.
Define oxygen debt.
Describe the factors that contribute to muscle fatigue.
Part 5 - Muscle Responses
Define muscle twitch and describe its three phases.
List and describe the factors that influence how much tension (or force) and muscle fiber can
generate.
Define a motor unit and recruitment.
Define the following terms: contraction, isotonic contraction, concentric contraction, eccentric
contraction, and isometric contraction.
List the characteristics of slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers.
Define hypertrophy and atrophy.
Part 6 – Smooth Muscle
List some general characteristics of smooth muscle tissue.
Describe visceral smoot muscle and multi-unit smooth muscle and give examples of where they
are located within the body.
Describe some of the differences between smooth muscle contraction and skeletal muscle
contraction.
Part 7 – Skeletal Muscle Actions, Muscles of Facial Expression, and Muscles that
Move the Head and Neck
Define the origin, insertion, action, and innervation of a muscle.
Define prime mover (agonist), synergist, fixator, and antagonist.
Know the origin, insertion, and action of the following muscles: frontalis, occipitalis,
zygomaticus major, masseter, temporalis, and sternocleidomastoid.
Part 8 – Muscles that Move the Upper Extremity
List the four rotator cuff muscles.
Know the origin, insertion, and action of the following muscles: trapezius, rhomboid major,
latissimus dorsi, deltoid, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, subscapularis, pectoralis
major, biceps brachii, triceps brachii, flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, and extensor
digitorum.
Part 9 – Muscles that Move the Trunk, and Muscles of the Pelvis Floor
List the two muscles that form the pelvic floor.
Part 10 – Muscles that Move the Lower Extremity
List the four muscles that form the quadricep muscles.
List the three muscles that form the hamstring muscles.
Know the origin, insertion, and action of the following muscles: psoas major, gluteus maximus,
sartorius, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, tibialis
anterior, and gastrocnemius.
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Chapter 10 – Nervous System I: Basic Structure and Function
Part 1 - General Characteristics of the Nervous System
List the functions of muscle tissue.
List the functions of the nervous system.
List the structures of the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
Describe the sensory (afferent) division and motor (efferent) division of the PNS.
Describe the effector organs for somatic motor neurons and autonomic motor neurons.
Part 2 - Neurons
Identify and describe the anatomical features of a neuron.
Define the following terms: nerve fiber, nerve, tract, ganglion, and nucleus.
Describe the composition and function of myelin.
Describe how multiple sclerosis and Tay-Sachs disease affects myelin in the nervous system.
Describe the three structural classifications of neurons and give examples of where they are
located. Describe the three functional classifications of neurons and describe how they overlap
the structural classifications.
Demonstrate an understanding of the limited ability of mature neurons to divide and regenerate
following an injury.
Part 3 - Neuroglia
Describe the function of the following neuroglia cells in the CNS: astrocytes, oligodendrocytes,
microglia, and ependyma cells.
Describe the function of the following neuroglia cells in the PNS: Schwann cells and satellite
cells.
Describe neuroglia involvement with brain tumors, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Huntington
disease.
Part 4 - Cell Membrane Potential
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Describe a membrane potential and a resting membrane potential.
Identify the normal resting membrane potential for a neuron and list the various factors that
contribute to its value.
Describe the cellular concentration gradients for the following ions: Na+, K+, Cl-, and K+. Which
of these ions is the most important contributor to the resting membrane potential of a neuron?
Describe the following types of ion channels: leak ion channels, chemically-gated ion channels,
and voltage-gated ion channels.
Describe an electrical current.
Part 5 - Local Potentials and Action Potentials
List and describe the characteristics of local potentials.
List and describe the characteristics of action potentials.
Identify and describe the different parts of a single action potential on a graph.
Define the following terms: propagation (conduction) and refractory period.
Describe how action potentials code for stimulus intensity.
Describe the factors that influence conduction speed for nerve impulses traveling down an axon.
Describe the difference between continuous conduction and saltatory conduction.
Describe how local anesthetics block the transmission of pain along nerves that transmit pain
signals.
Part 6 - Synaptic Transmission
Define synapse, presynaptic neuron, and postsynaptic neuron.
Describe the events of synaptic transmission.
Describe how synaptic potentials are created and describe the difference between excitatory
postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSP). List which ion
channels can be opened to generate either an EPSP or IPSP.
Describe how neurotransmitters are removed from a synapse to terminate synaptic transmission.
Part 7 - Neurotransmitters
List the five categories of neurotransmitters and give examples of each.
Identify the neurotransmitters involved with Parkinson’s disease, clinical depression, and pain
transmission.
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