BIOL 1119 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Internal Carotid Artery, Common Carotid Artery, Carotid Sinus

• School: Northeastern University
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIOL 1119
• Professor: Christopher Richardson

Document Summary

Anatomy of blood vessels: arteries transport blood away from heart (split into increasingly smaller branches, veins transport blood back to heart (merge into increasingly larger branches, capillaries connect smallest arteries to smallest veins. Vessel wall: tunica interna- innermost layer, in contact with blood. Simple squamous endothelium overlying a basement membrane and layer of loose connective tissue. Basal lamina (protein-carbohydrate layer) is located btw endothelium and basement membrane. Basal lamina is part of basement membrane: help anchor endothelium to basement membrane. Normally repels blood cells and platelets: if damaged, platelets can stick to it and form a blood clot. Endothelium secrete chemicals that cause local effects (dilation or constriction of the vessel: tunica media- middle layer; usually thickest layer. The middle layer varies among vessel types. Different types of blood vessels have different relative amounts of muscle and elastic tissue. Smooth muscle for vasomotion (vessel diameter changes)