Muscles
Muscles
Muscles (pronunciation: /ˈmʌsəlz/) are soft tissues found in most organisms. They are responsible for producing force and motion. They are primarily responsible for maintaining and changing posture, locomotion, as well as movement of internal organs, such as the contraction of the heart and the movement of food through the digestive system via peristalsis.
Etymology
The word muscle is derived from the Latin term musculus, which means "little mouse", possibly because of the shape of certain muscles or because contracting muscles look like mice moving under the skin.
Types of Muscles
There are three types of muscles in the human body:
- Skeletal Muscle: These are the muscles that move bones and other structures.
- Cardiac Muscle: This is a unique muscle type found only in the heart.
- Smooth Muscle: These muscles are found in walls of organs and structures such as the esophagus, stomach, intestines, bronchi, uterus, urethra, blood vessels, and the arrector pili in the skin (which are responsible for goosebumps).
Related Terms
- Myology: The study of muscles.
- Myocyte: A type of cell found in muscle tissue.
- Myofibril: A basic rod-like unit of a muscle cell.
- Sarcomere: The basic unit of a muscle's cross-striated myofibril.
- Tendon: A fibrous connective tissue which attaches muscle to bone.
- Ligament: A fibrous connective tissue which attaches bone to bone, and usually serves to hold structures together and keep them stable.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Muscles
- Wikipedia's article - Muscles
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski