Excitation of the striated musculature | Striated Musculature

Excitation of the striated musculature

An important feature of the striated muscles, precisely to distinguish them from the smooth muscles and the heart muscles, is that they are subject to our arbitrary control. ́Quergestreifte Muscles can be consciously tensed or relaxed by us. They are reached by motor nerve fibers, at the end of which there is a neuromuscular end plate.

Here the release of a transmitter called acetylcholine takes place. This binds to receptors located on the muscle, which ultimately leads to the opening of channels there, which result in a discharge of the muscle cell: A so-called action potential is formed, which is passed on through the membrane of the muscle cell, whereby, over several steps, calcium finally reaches the inside of the cell, where it sets the sliding filament mechanism in motion. The muscle contracts.

In most muscles, the individual muscle fiber cells are excited by a multitude of nerve cells. Depending on how many nerve cells are activated, different numbers of muscle fibers contract within a skeletal muscle, not always the entire muscle. This enables the body to control the muscle power required at any given moment. Just because a muscle is supposed to be active does not mean that it needs its full strength.