2

E X E R C I S E

MAMOLO, ZHAREIGHNEILE C. Skeletal Muscle Physiology

DENT 3F

M3L1 MUSCLE TWITCH

DECEMBER 2, 2020
OBJECTIVES

1. To define motor unit, twitch, latent period, contraction phase,

GEN. PHYSIO & FAM PLANNING relaxationphase, threshold, summation, tetanus, fatigue, isometric
contraction, and isotonic contraction
2. To understand how nerve impulses trigger muscle movement
3. To describe the phases of a muscle twitch
4. To identify threshold and maximal stimuli
5. To understand the effect of increases in stimulus intensity on a muscle
6. To understand the effect of increases in stimulus frequency on a muscle
7. To demonstrate muscle fatigue
8. To explain the differences between isometric and isotonic
musclecontractions

H
umans make voluntary decisions to talk, walk, stand up, or sit down.
The muscles that make these actions possible are skeletal muscles.
Skeletal muscle is generally muscle that is attached to the skeleton
of the body, although there are some exceptions—for example, the
obicularis oris, a muscle around the mouth, never attaches to any skeletal
element. Skeletal muscles characteristically span two joints and attach to the
skeleton via tendons connecting to the periosteum of the bone.

The Motor Unit and Muscle

Contraction
Amotor unit consists of a motor neuron and all of the muscle fibers it
innervates. Motor neurons direct muscles when and when not to contract.
Amotor neuron and a muscle cell intersect at what is called the neuromuscular
junction. Specifically, the neuromuscular junction is where the axon terminal of
the neuron meets a specialized region of the muscle cell’s plasma membrane.
This specialized region is called the motor end-plate.An action potential
(depolarization) in a motor neuron triggers the release of acetylcholine, which
diffuses into the muscle plasma membrane (also known as the sarcolemma).
The acetylcholine binds to receptors on the muscle cell, initiating a change in
ion permeability that results in depolarization of the muscle plasma membrane,
called an end-plate potential. The end-plate potential, in turn, triggers a series
of events that results in the contraction of a muscle cell. This entire process is
called excitation-contraction coupling.
We will be simulating this process in the following activities, only instead
of using acetylcholine to trigger action potentials, we will be using electrical
shocks. The shocks will be administered by an electrical stimulator that can be
set for the precise voltage, frequency, and duration of shock desired. When
18 Exercise 2

applied to a muscle that has been surgically removed from an animal, a single
electrical stimulus will result in a muscle twitch—the mechanical response to a
single action potential. Atwitch has three phases: the latent period, which is
the period of time that elapses between the generation of an action potential in a
muscle cell and the start of muscle contraction; the contraction phase, which
starts at the

17
end of the latent period and ends when muscle tension allow you to record the data in this box. To delete a line of
peaks; and the relaxation phase, which is the period of data, click on the data to highlight it and then click Delete
time from peak tension until the end of the muscle Line. You may also delete the entire table by clicking
contraction (Figure 2.1b). Clear Table.

Single Stimulus ACTIVITY1

Follow the instructions in the Getting Started section at the
front of this manual. From the drop-down menu, select Identifying the Latent Period
Exercise 2: Skeletal Muscle Physiology and click GO.
Recall that the latent period is the period of time that
Before you perform the activities, watch the Skeletal
elapses between the generation of an action potential in a
Muscle video to gain an appreciation for the preparation
muscle cell and the start of muscle contraction.
required for this experiment. Then click Single Stimulus.
You will see the opening screen for the Single Stimulus 1. Set the Voltage to 6.0 volts by clicking the ()
activity, shown in Figure 2.1. button on the stimulator until the voltage display reads 6.0.
On the left side of the screen is a muscle suspended in
2. Click Stimulate and observe the tracing that
a metal holder that is designed to measure any force
results. Notice that the trace starts at the left side of the
produced by the muscle. To the right of the metal holder are
screen and stays flat for a short period of time. Remember
three pieces of equipment. The top piece of equipment is an
that the X axis displays elapsed time.
oscilloscope screen. When you apply an electrical stimulus
to the muscle, the muscle’s reaction will be graphically 3. Click on the Measure button on the stimulator.
displayed on this screen. Elapsed time, in milliseconds, is Note that a thin, vertical yellow line appears at the far left
measured along the X axis of this screen, while any force side of the oscilloscope screen.
generated by the muscle is measured along the Y axis. In
the lower righthand corner of the oscilloscope is a Clear 4. Click on the (>) button underneath Time (msec).
Tracings button; clicking the button will remove any You will see the vertical yellow line start to move across
tracings from the screen. the screen. Watch what happens in the Time (msec)
Beneath the oscilloscope screen is the electrical display as the line moves across the screen. Keep clicking
stimulator you will use to stimulate the muscle. Note the the (>) button until the yellow line reaches the point in the
electrode from the stimulator that rests on the muscle. Next tracing where the graph stops being a flat line and begins to
to the Voltage display on the left side of the stimulator are rise (this is the point at which muscle contraction starts.) If
() and () buttons, which you may click to set the desired the yellow line moves past the desired point, you can use
voltage. When you click on the Stimulate button, you will the (<) button to move it backwards.
electrically stimulate the muscle at the set voltage. In the 2.78 msec
How long is the latent period? _________
middle of the stimulator are display fields for active force,
passive force, and total force. Muscle contraction produces
active force. Passive force is generated from the muscle Note: If you wish to print your graph, click Tools on the
being stretched. The sum of active force and passive force menu bar and then click Print Graph.
is the total force. Also notice a Measure button on the 5. Increase or decrease the stimulus voltage and
stimulator. Clicking this button after administering a repeat the experiment. (Remember that you can clear the
stimulus will cause a yellow vertical line to appear. tracings on the screen at any time by clicking Clear
Clicking the () or () buttons under Time (msec) will then Tracings.) Record your data here:
allow you to move the yellow line along the X axis and Stimulus Latent
view the active, passive, or total force generated at a 1.5 V
voltage: ________ period: 2.78
________
specific point in time.
msec
Beneath the stimulator is the data collection box.
Clicking on Record Data after an experimental run will Stimulus Latent
 Skeletal Muscle Physiology 19

4.7 V 2.78
voltage: ________ period: ________ ________________________________________________
msec
3. Click Record Data.
Stimulus Latent 4. Increase the voltage to 0.1 volt, then click Stimulate.
8.8 V 2.78
voltage: ________ period: ________ Observe the oscilloscope screen and the Active Force
msec display (on the right side of the stimulator).
Does the latent period change with different stimulus
5. Click Record Data.
NO
voltages? ________

After completing this experiment, click Clear Tracings to

clear the oscilloscope screen of all tracings. ■

ACTIVITY2

Identifying the Threshold Voltage

By definition, the threshold is the minimal stimulus needed
to cause a depolarization of the muscle plasma membrane
(sarcolemma.) The threshold is the point at which sodium
ions start to move into the cell (instead of out of the cell) to
bring about the membrane depolarization.
1. Set the Voltage on the stimulator to 0.0 volts.
2. Click Stimulate. What do you see in the Active Force
display?
When I clicked the stimulate button, the active
force remained at 0.0 gms.
20 Exercise 2

(a)

Latent Contraction Relaxation

period phase phase

Maximum tension
development
tension
 M
Skeletal Muscle Physiology 21

05101520253035
Stimulus Time (msec) (b) The muscle twitch: myogram of an isometric twitch
FIGURE 2.1 Single stimulus and muscle twitch.
(a) Opening screen of the Single Stimulus experiment.

contraction.

(b)
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you see a number that is ________________________________________________
greater than 0.00 appear in the Active Force display.
What is the voltage beyond which there were no further
7. Print out the graph(s) that you see on the oscilloscope
screen by clicking Tools at the top of the screen and 8.5 ________ V
increases in active force? Maximal voltage:
then selecting Print Graph.
0.8 V Why is there a maximal voltage? What has happened to the
What is the threshold voltage? ________ muscle at this voltage? Keep in mind that the muscle we
How does the graph generated at the threshold voltage are working with consists of many individual muscle
differ from the graphs generated at voltages below the fibers.
threshold? ________________________________________________
Instead of a flat line, the graph shows activity There is a maximal voltage because all the
________________________________________________
indicating an increase of force. As the voltage ________________________________________________
muscle fibers contained within the muscle are
increased (0.8 and up) the amount of active force depolarized and they all develop active force. The
______________________________________________
also increases. muscle at this voltage becomes tense (tension)
■
thus, making all the fibers contract and adding
more
An voltage
individual cannot
muscle fibercontract more
follows the fibers.
all-or-none
ACTIVITY3 principle— it will either contract 100% or not at all. Does
the muscle we are working with exhibit the all-or-none
principle? Why or why not?
Effect of Increases in Stimulus Intensity
________________________________________________
In this activity we will examine how additional increases in No. The muscle that we are working with
stimulus intensity (such as additional increases in voltage) ________________________________________________
(Extensor digitorum longus) consists of many
affect muscle response. individual fibers which have their own threshold
________________________________________________
1. Set the voltage to 0.5 volts and click Stimulate. Then voltage. A small amount of electricity contracts a
________________________________________________
small amount of fibers.
click Record Data.
2. Continue increasing the voltage by 0.5 volts and
clicking 4. If you wish, you may view a summary of your data on
a plotted data grid by clicking Tools and then Plot
Stimulate until you have reached 10.0 volts. Observe the
Data.
Active Force display and click Record Data after each
stimulation. Leave all of your tracings on the screen so that 5. Click Tools → Print Data to print your data. ■
you can compare them to one another. If you wish, you
may click Tools and then Print Graph to print your
tracings. Multiple Stimulus
Click on Experiment at the top of the screen and
3. Observe your tracings. How did the increases in then select Multiple Stimulus. You will see a
voltage affect the peaks in the tracings? slightly different screen appear (Figure 2.2.) The
________________________________________________ main change is that a Multiple Stimulus button has
As the voltage increases, the peaks in the
now been added to the electrical stimulator. This
tracings also increases.
________________________________________________ button allows you to start and stop the stimulator as
you wish. When you click Multiple Stimulus, you’ll
How did the increases in voltage affect the amount of notice that the button’s label changes to Stop
active force generated by the muscle? Stimulus. Clicking on Stop Stimulus turns off the
________________________________________________
There is a slight increase in active force whenever stimulator.
the voltage is increased by 0.5 V.
22 Exercise 2

ACTIVITY4 ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Treppe
Treppe is the progressive increase in force generated
4. Click on the 200 button and drag it back to the
when a muscle is stimulated at a sufficiently high
far right edge of the oscilloscope screen.
frequency. At such a frequency, muscle twitches
follow one another closely, with each successive 5. To print your graphs, click on Tools on the
twitch peaking slightly higher than the one before. menu bar, then click Print Graph. ■
This step-like increase in force is why treppe is also
ACTIVITY5
known as the staircase phenomenon.
1. Set the voltage to the maximal voltage you
Summation
established in Activity 3.
When a muscle is stimulated repeatedly, such that the
2. Click on the 200 button on the far right edge of stimuli arrive one after another within a short period
the oscilloscope screen and slowly drag it as far to the left of time, twitches can overlap with each other and
of the screen as it will go. This will allow you to see a result in a stronger muscle contraction than a stand-
longer span of time displayed on the screen. alone twitch. This phenomenon is known as
summation. Summation occurs when muscle fibers
3. Click Single Stimulus once. You will watch the
that have already been stimulated once are stimulated
trace rise and fall. As soon as it falls, click Single
again, before the fibers have relaxed.
Stimulus again. Watch the trace rise and fall; when it
falls, click Single Stimulus a third time. 1. Set the Voltage to the maximal voltage you
What do you observe? established in Activity 3.

________________________________________________ 2. Click on the Single Stimulus button and observe

There is a slight increase of force in each trace. the oscilloscope screen.
1.83

3.26

FIGURE 2.2 Opening screen of the Multiple Stimulus experiment.

 Skeletal Muscle Physiology 23

What is the active force of the contraction? _______ stimulus. However, if stimuli continue to be applied
gms frequently to a muscle over a prolonged period of time, the
muscle force will eventually reach a plateau—a state
3. Click on the Single Stimulus button once. Watch
known as tetanus. If stimuli are applied with even greater
the trace rise and begin to fall. Before the trace falls
frequency, the twitches will begin to fuse so that the peaks
completely, click Single Stimulus again. (You may want
and valleys of each twitch become indistinguishable from
to simply click Single Stimulus twice in quick succession
one another—this state is known as complete (fused)
in order to achieve this.)
tetanus. The stimulus frequency at which no further
What is the active force now? _______ gms. increases in force are generated by the muscle is the
maximal tetanic tension.
4. Click on Single Stimulus and allow the graph to
rise and fall before clicking Single Stimulus again. 1. Click Clear Tracings to erase any existing tracings
from the oscilloscope screen.
Was there any change in the force generated by the muscle?
2. Underneath the Multiple Stimulus button, set the
________________________________________________
Yes. Stimuli/sec display, located beneath the Multiple
Stimulus button, to 50 by clicking on the () button.
5. Click on Single Stimulus and allow the graph to 3. Set the voltage to the maximal voltage you established
rise, but not fall, before clicking Single Stimulus again. in Activity 3.
Was there any change in the force generated by the muscle? 4. Click Multiple Stimulus and watch the trace as it
_________ moves across the screen. You will notice that the
Yes.
Multiple Stimulus button changes to a Stop Stimulus
Why has the force changed? button as soon as it is clicked. After the trace has
moved across the full screen and begins moving across
________________________________________________
Because of the change in velocity, there was a the screen a second time, click the Stop Stimulus
change in force. The force of a muscle
________________________________________________ button.
contraction declines with increasing velocity.
________________________________________________ What begins to happen at around 80 msec?
6. Decrease the voltage on the stimulator and repeat _______________________________________________
this activity. At 80 msec, stimulation rate produces partial
_
summation of individual twitches.
Do you see the same pattern of changes in the force
generated? _________
Yes.
What is this condition called?
7. Next, stimulate the muscle as fast as you can (that ________________________________________________
Incomplete (Unfused) Tetanus
is, click on Single Stimulus several times in quick
succession).
5. Leave the trace on the screen. Increase the Stimuli/sec
Does the force generated change with each additional setting to 130 by clicking the () button. Then click
stimulus? If so, how? Multiple Stimulus and observe the trace. After the
trace has moved across the full screen and begins
________________________________________________
Yes. As the stimulus frequency increased, the moving across the screen a second time, click Stop
muscle tension generated by each successive
________________________________________________ Stimulus.
stimulus also increased, and a limiting maximum How does the trace at 130 stimuli/sec compare with the
______________________________________________
value was observed. trace at 50 stimuli/sec?
■
________________________________________________
The trace continuously moves rapidly that
ACTIVITY6 decrease of tension between stimuli cannot be
detected.
What is this condition called?
Tetanus
In the previous activity we observed that if stimuli are ________________________________________________
Complete (Fused) Tetanus
applied to a muscle frequently in quick succession, the
muscle generated more force with each successive
24 Exercise 2

6. Click Clear Tracings to clear the oscilloscope screen.

7. Increase the Stimuli/sec setting to 145 by clicking the
() button. Then click Multiple Stimulus and observe
the trace. Click Stop Stimulus after the trace has
swept one full screen. Then click Record Data.
8. Repeat step 7, increasing the Stimuli/sec setting by 1
each time until you reach 150 stimuli/sec. (That is, set
the Stimuli/sec setting to 146, then 147, 148, etc.) Be
sure to click Record Data after each run.
9. Examine your data. At what stimulus frequency is
there no further increase in force?
Beyond 146 stimuli/sec, there is no further increase
________________________________________________
in the peak force.
What is this stimulus frequency called?
________________________________________________
Maximal Tetanic Tension

10. For another view of your data, click Tools and then
click Plot Data.
11. Click Clear Tracings to clear the oscilloscope screen.
If you wish to print your data, click Tools and then
Print Data.
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ACTIVITY7

Fatigue
Fatigue is a decline in a muscle’s ability to maintain
a constant force of contraction after prolonged,
repetitive stimulation. The causes of fatigue are still
being investigated, though in the case of high-
intensity exercise, lactic acid buildup in muscles is
thought to be a factor. In low-intensity exercise,
fatigue may be due to a depletion of energy reserves.
1. Design an experiment that demonstrates fatigue on the
oscilloscope screen. Hint: Set Stimuli/sec to above
100.
In fatigue, what happens to force production over time?
________________________________________________
In fatigue, the force decreases over time because
muscle cell's ATP is used up faster than it's
________________________________________________
produced.
2. Print out your results by clicking on Tools, then Print
Graph.
3. Click Tools → Print Data to print your recorded data.
■