Skeletal Muscle is one of
several terms used to refer to muscle tissue that is under concious control.
Other terms
that refer to the same tissue are Voluntary Muscle & Striated
Muscle. Skeletal Muscle produces movement,
maintains posture, stabilises joints and generates heat.
This tissue is known as:
- Skeletal Muscle - because it is attached to the skeleton
and therefore moves bones in relation to other bones.
- Voluntary Muscle - because it is under concious, or "voluntary" control.
- Striated Muscle - because the myofibrils that
form this type of muscle appear to consist of "band" (of lighter and
darker colour)
when viewed under a microscope. These are due to the alternation of
actin and myosin protein filaments within each myofibril, and form
the visual impression of
striations in
the muscle tissue.
Other types of muscle tissue:
There are three main types of muscle tissue.
They are:
- Skeletal Muscle - see above.
- Smooth
Muscle - surrounding organs and other body structures (nor
under concious control).
- Cardiac
Muscle - the specialised muscle found only in the heart.
This Section consists of short summaries about the
structures that form the muscles of the body.
This list is not exhaustive but is intended to be appropriate for students
of A-Level Human Biology, ITEC courses in massage and related subjects,
and some other courses in Health Sciences.
For more general information about Muscles see
the pages about: Anterior
Muscles, Posterior
Muscles, Facial
Muscles, Terminology
about Muscles, and the Structure
of Muscles. |
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