Anatomy & Physiology 34A
Study Recommendations for Exam #4
The following is a study guide for our fourth lecture exam on the Muscular System and
Nervous System Introduction. Refer to your lecture notes and related textbook materials
as you study this list of topics. You will need one #882 Scantron and a #2 pencil for the
exam. Study hard, and good luck!
Chapter 10: Muscular System
- Describe the three types of levers formed by muscles & bones, and give an example of
each.
- What are the 4 properties of all muscle tissue?
- Know the different methods by which muscles are attached (e.g., tendons, aponeuroses,
direct attachments). What is meant by a muscle’s origin and insertion?
- Describe the two types of muscle fascia that covers muscle and attaches it to the skin.
- What are muscle fascicles and in what ways can they be arranged (5 main ways)? Give
examples of each.
- Know what is meant by prime mover (agonist), antagonist, synergist, and fixator
muscles, and give examples of each.
-How are muscles named? Give examples of each naming method.
-Name the 2 main neck muscles and know the actions of each.
- What are the 4 major muscles of respiration? Know the actions of each, as well as their
origins and insertions.
- Describe the 4 muscle layers of the abdominal wall, their origins, insertions, and
actions.
-Know the 3 major muscles that move the vertebral column and their actions.
- Know the locations, origins, insertions, and actions of the major muscles of the axial
and appendicular skeleton mentioned in lecture (refer to your lecture notes and muscle
diagram handout).
- Know the muscles found in major muscle groups, such as the shoulder rotator cuff,
quadraceps femoris, and hamstrings.
Chapter 9: Muscle Tissue and Physiology
- What are the 5 characteristics of muscle tissue? What functions distinguish it from
other tissues? How do muscle tissues and nerves interact with each other?
- What are the 3 types of muscle in the body? How are they similar? How do they
differ? Know where each is found in the body and their functions.
- What do we call each of the 3 layers of connective tissue that surround skeletal muscle
tissue? Why are these layers of CT necessary? How are they related to tendons?
- Describe the microscopic structure of a skeletal muscle cell. Know the functions of
each of the cellular organelles described in class.
- What is the functional unit of skeletal muscle? What are the components of a
sarcomere? Which parts compose the dark band? The light band?
- Compare the types of muscle tissues served by somatic motor neurons vs. autonomic
motor neurons.
- What is a motor unit? How does the number of motor units differ in muscles that
require fine muscle control vs. those involved in muscle strength?
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- What are the components of a neuromuscular junction? How do neurons transmit nerve
impulses to muscle cells? Which neurotransmitter is used to initiate skeletal muscle
contraction? What enzyme degrades the neurotransmitter after it has bound to
receptors in the motor end plate?
- Know the key features and molecular components of the sliding filament theory of
muscle contraction, as discussed in lecture.
- What is meant by muscle tone (tonus)?
- What is meant by a muscle cell’s threshold, twitch, latent period, and refractory period?
- What are the two methods by which the contraction strength of a muscle twitch may be
increased? What is meant by treppe, temporal summation, incomplete and complete
tetanus?
- Compare isometric vs. isotonic muscle contraction. Give examples of each.
- Compare and contrast the major ways that ATP is synthesized in muscle cells. What is
involved in anaerobic fermentation? Aerobic fermentation? The creatin phosphate
system?
-What is ATP needed for in muscle contraction? What are the sources of glucose used in
aerobic and anaerobic respiration?
- What is meant by oxygen debt? Why is extra oxygen needed after strenuous exercise?
- What is the cause of muscle fatigue? Of muscle cramps?
- Compare and contrast red, slow twitch muscle fibers with white, and intermediate fast
twitch fibers. Where are each found in the body? What types of activities are each best
for?
- Describe the microscopic structure of cardiac muscle. What are intercalated discs and
how do they allow cardiac cells to contract in unison?
- Describe the microscopic structure of smooth muscle cells. How is it similar to skeletal
muscle? How does it differ?
- What are the two types of smooth muscle? How do they differ? Where is each found in
the body?
- In what different ways can smooth muscle be stimulated to contract? What do we call
the wavelike motions that some smooth muscle generates?
- Compare and contrast the contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle and skeletal
muscle. How are they similar? How do they differ?
- How does the regulation of smooth muscle contraction compare with the regulation of
skeletal muscle contraction? How are they similar? How do they differ?
- How does smooth muscle respond to stretch?
- What is the difference between muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia? Do all 3 muscle
tissue types experience both? If not, which type experience each phenomena?
- Know the major muscle disorders discussed in lecture.
Chapter 11: Nervous Tissue
- What are the 3 major functions of the nervous system?
- Know the general organization of the nervous system, including the main structures and
functional divisions involved (refer to the diagram we drew on the board)
- What structures are involved in the CNS? What structures are part of the PNS?
- Compare and contrast the somatic and autonomic divisions of the PNS. From what
areas of the body do the sensory impulses originate for each? What are the main
effectors in each division?
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- Name the different types of neuroglia and their functions. Which are found in the CNS?
In the PNS?
- How do oligodendrocytes differ from Schwann cells in their functions? What can
Schwann cells do that oligodendrocytes cannot?
- What is multiple sclerosis? What happens to myelinated neurons in the disease?
- Describe the composition of myelin, how cells produce the myelin sheath, and how
myelinated nerve fibers differ from unmyelinated fibers functionally.
- Define nerve fiber, nerve, ganglia, nuclei, tract, gray matter, and white matter.
- Describe the structures of a typical neuron, as well as their functions
- How do anterograde and retrograde transport in neuron axons differ?
- What are the three structural classifications of neurons? Which are sensory? Which are
motor? Which are interneurons? Where are each of these types of neurons found in the
body?
- What is meant by somatic sensory, somatic motor, visceral sensory, and visceral motor
neurons? In which divisions of the PNS are each found?
- Describe the 3 layers of connective tissue that surround nerves and nerve fibers. What
purpose do these layers of CT serve?
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