Human Biology II (Muscles and Movement)

BUILD YOUR ANATOMY KNOWLEDGE FURTHER

" ...it is very informative and worthwhile. I am glad I started the course. Of the many available from different schools, this offers the best value for money. "
- Sonia, studying Human Biology

The information given was excellent, but the assignments also made you look further to find answers yourself and I find this a much better way of learning than just being handed all the answers. It has given me a grounding knowledge in human biology which is perfect as I am applying to study Chiropractics at university next year. I couldn’t have asked for more from my tutor. She was very thorough and extremely helpful with any problems I encountered.
- Kate, Anatomy

This course describes why humans see, touch, smell, taste and hear the world around us like we do. It also shows with practical examples how our body is able to move and how to improve flexibility, performance and posture. The course guides you to a better understanding of the operation of muscles and nerves, in movements and reactions observed in the body.

This course covers: nerves, the nervous system, skeletal muscle, muscle organisation, motor skills, structure & function of skeletal muscle, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility amd mucles and posture.

Prerequisites: Human Biology BSC101 or equivalent.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. How Nerves Work
   • Structure of the nervous system
   • Neuron function
   • Anatomy of neurons
   • How muscles workwith nerves
   • Basic body functions
2. Nerves and Motor Skills
   • Overview
   • Synapses
   • Neurotransmitters
   • Neural circuits
   • Science of motor skills
   • How motor skills develop
   • Physiology of the central nervous system
   • Homeostatic reflex arc
   • Spinal chord and spinal nerves
   • Central sensio motor programs
3. Skeletal Muscle
   • The skeleton
   • How bones form
   • Anatomy of bone
   • Fractures and fracture healing
   • Types of bones
   • Bone joints
   • Skeletal muscles
   • Smooth muscle
   • Striated voluntary muscle
   • Cardiac muscle
   • Relationship between muscle and skeleton
4. Muscle Organisation
   • Parts of the muscular system: tendons, deep fascia, epimysium etc
   • Types of muscle fibre
   • Muscle types: striated, smooth, cardiac
   • Skeletal muscle types: slow oxidative, fast glycolic, etc
   • What muscle cause what movement
5. Muscular Movement
   • How do muscles move
   • How skeletal muscles produce movement
   • How levers are used to produce muscular movement
   • Group actions
   • Terminology
   • Muscle groups and movements
6. Muscular Development
   • Muscular body function
   • Energy systems
   • Muscular strength
   • Muscular endurance
7. Muscle Flexibility
   • Introduction
   • Flexibility
   • Excitation contraction of muscle
   • Different levels of flexibility
   • Internal flexibility
   • External flexibility
8. Muscles and Posture
   • Posture
   • Gravity support
   • Net movement
   • Benefits of posture
   • Good posture
   • Postural mechanisms
   • Slow and fast twitch muscles
   • Nervous system feedback
   • Posture improvement
   • Ergonomics

Aims

• Explain how nerves cause reactions in the human body.
• Explain how the nervous system affects motor skill performance.
• Explain the function and structure of skeletal muscle in the human body.
• Describe the organisation of muscle tissue in the human body.
• Describe the mechanics of muscular movement.
• Explain development of muscular strength and muscular endurance.
• Selecting muscular flexibility exercises.
• Explain significance of muscles to posture and general well being.

What You Will Do

• Draw a cross section of the spinal cord, and label the anatomical parts.
• Explain what happens when an electrical stimulus is sent along the central nervous system, by illustrating and labelling the reflex arc.
• Explain nerve to nerve synapses, during a specific body movement.
• Explain activity at muscle-nerve junctions, during the specific body movement.
• Explain how proprioceptors function, during the specific body movement.
• Explain processes which occur in the nervous system, when a specific muscle moves.
• Explain the functioning of the following different sensory receptors:
  • smell
  • sound
  • balance
• Distinguish between the functions of the following different neuroglia:
  • Astrocytes
  • Oligodendrocytes
  • Microglia
  • Ependymal cells
  • Neurolemmocytes
  • Satellite cells
• Explain how the function of different parts of the brain affect different specific muscular movements in the body.
• Explain how a specific voluntary skill is learnt by the body.
• Explain the dampening affect, as exerted through the cerebellum.
• Explain how the body perceives speed through the nervous system.
• Explain the operation of tendons, during a specific movement of a limb.
• Compare the function of motor with sensory fibres in nerves supplying muscles.
• Compare differences in the structural characteristics of red and white muscle fibres.
• Summarise events occurring during muscular contraction, at a microscopic level.
• Explain how muscles of the hand move when you pick up a tennis ball.
• Prepare diagrams showing the muscles in the back which provide both support and movement for the spinal column.
• Explain the significance of these muscles to health, wellbeing and mobility.
• Explain the principle of levers related to an observed muscular movement.
• Explain the principle of moments related to an observed muscular movement.
• Explain muscular movements which occur in the observed subjects, when using three different types of exercise machines.
• Explain three different body movements, in terms of the action of different bones, muscles and nerves; including the movement of a limb in exercise, and the bending of the back, and one hand movement.
• Distinguish between isotonic, isometric, eccentric and isokinetic contractions.
• List ways how strength can be maintained and increased.
• List ways how endurance can be maintained and increased.
• Explain three different physiological changes which accompany increased strength.
• Explain the overload principle, related to muscular development.
• Explain biological processes in force to effect strength and endurance in an athlete observed and interviewed by you.
• Compare static and dynamic flexibility, in an individual observed by you.
• Explain the structural limits to flexibility, in three different people of different ages.
• List ways of developing flexibility in a specific individual.
• Explain the relationship between flexibility and aspects of performance in a specific case study.
• Develop an exercise program to develop/maintain flexibility for a person.
• Submit photos together with comments on the posture of each person you studied. Comment on the age, sex &, occupation of each of these people.
• How might posture affect general well being, including arthritis and back pain.

HOW MUSCLES WORK WITH NERVES

Muscles have a polarised membrane surrounding them that is very similar to nerves. There are special receptors built into this membrane. When Acetyl-choline attaches to a receptor the membrane is depolarised. The wave of depolarisation runs over the muscle fibre and causes it to contract.

If you think of the brain as a central computer that controls all the functions of your body, then the nervous system is like a network that relays messages back and forth from it to different parts of the body. It does this via the spinal cord, which runs from the brain down through the back and contains threadlike nerves that branch out to every organ and body part.

When a message comes into the brain from anywhere in the body, the brain tells the body how to react. For example, if you accidentally touch a hot stove, the nerves in your skin shoot a message of pain to your brain. The brain then sends a message back telling the muscles in your hand to pull away. Luckily, this neurological relay race takes a lot less time than it just took to read about it!
Considering everything it does, the human brain is incredibly compact, weighing just about one kilogram. Its many folds and grooves, though, provide it with the additional surface area necessary for storing all of the body's important information.

The spinal cord, on the other hand, is a long bundle of nerve tissue. It extends from the lower part of the brain down through spine. Along the way, various nerves branch out to the entire body. These are called the peripheral nervous system.

Both the brain and the spinal cord are protected by bone: the brain by the bones of the skull, and the spinal cord by a set of ring-shaped bones called vertebrae. They're both cushioned by layers of membranes called meninges as well as a special fluid called cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid helps protect the nerve tissue, keep it healthy, and remove waste products.

The basic functioning of the nervous system depends a lot on tiny cells called neurons. The brain has billions of them, and they have many specialized jobs. For example, sensory neurons take information from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin to the brain. Motor neurons carry messages away from the brain and back to the rest of the body. All neurons, however, relay information to each other through a complex electrochemical process, making connections that affect the way we think, learn, move, and behave.

BASIC BODY FUNCTIONS

A part of the peripheral nervous system called the autonomic nervous system is responsible for controlling many of the body processes we almost never need to think about, like breathing, digestion, sweating, and shivering. The autonomic nervous system has two parts: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems.

The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for sudden stress, like if you see a robbery taking place. When something frightening happens, the sympathetic nervous system makes the heart beat faster so that it sends blood more quickly to the different body parts that might need it. It also causes the adrenal glands at the top of the kidneys to release adrenaline, a hormone that helps give extra power to the muscles for a quick getaway. This process is known as the body's "fight or flight"