PS263 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Posterior Parietal Cortex, Slow-Wave Sleep, Primary Motor Cortex
Document Summary
System that is the critical way that we interact with the world around us. Most body movements are controlled by skeletal muscles. These muscles are composed of hundreds or thousands of muscle fibers. Groups of these muscle fibers are innervated by a single motor neuron. Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter released by motor neurons at the neuromuscular junction. Activates motor end-plates- the receptive area on a muscle fiber at the neuromuscular junction- causing it to contract. Motor pool is used to describe the collection of motor neurons that innervate the fibers of a single muscle. Muscles are either flexors (act to bend or flex a joint) or extensors (act to straighten or extend a joint) Muscles (like the biceps/triceps) are antagonist muscles whereas muscles acting together are synergistic. Activity is monitored by 2 types of receptors: golgi tendon organs and the muscle spindles.
