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Human Anatomy:
Human Anatomy (October 25, 2024): Compare and Contrast Muscle Types
There are three different types of muscles, those include: smooth, cardiac, and skeletal. The smooth muscle tissue is found in the hollow, internal organs (stomach, intestines, bladder, etc). The skeletal tissue accumulates to attach to bones, the tissue helps primarily with movement and posture. Cardiac muscle tissue is found within the heart. It contracts and pumps blood throughout the human body.
The skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle tissues have numerous differentiations. One of them being that there are contrasting muscle shapes. The three muscle tissues are all elongated cell types. Skeletal and cardiac are made of striated muscle (packed with an arrangement of myofibrils). The skeletal muscle tissue is voluntary, meaning humans are able to move their bodies willingly. Cardiac and smooth tissue are involuntary, the contraction of the muscle tissues are automatic. Two muscle types acquire strength through stretching, skeletal and cardiac, however, smooth muscle reacts to stress responses by relaxing the muscle in organs.
Smooth and cardiac muscle are self-stimulating, they're not individually innervated, and impulse spreads cell-to-cell. Skeletal muscle is non self-stimulating, each fiber thats innervated by the branch of the somatic neuron is part of the motor unit. The muscle types have diversity in term amounts of mitochondria and energy requirements. Skeletal has the most mitochondria, smooth has the least, and cardiac has less than skeletal, but more than smooth. Skeletal has the highest energy requirement (constant movement), smooth has the lowest energy requirement, cardiac has a medium/intermediate energy requirement.
Muscle types contain contractions, the movement of muscles when relaxed, shortened, or tightened. Skeletal muscles contract the fastest, smooth has the slowest, and cardiac has intermediate contractions. Two muscle types contain rhythmic movement: smooth and cardiac. Skeletal is not rhythmic. Muscles types contain nuclei/nucleus per cell, only one is multi-nucleated: skeletal. Smooth and cardiac are single nucleated. Another thing they have in common is that they don't fatigue. Skeletal is the only muscle type that does because it moves constantly, causing the body to easily exhaust.
The Neuron is like a Tree: Human Anatomy (February 6, 2025):
The structure and functions of both a neuron cell and tree share numerous similarities. The components of a tree include: the leaves, the bark, the branches, the roots, and the trunk. The components of a neuronal cell include: the dendrites, the cell body (soma), the nucleus, the dendrites, the dendritic spines, the myelin sheath, the axon terminals, and the axon.
The branches of a tree extend from the trunk and are used to assist in the transportation of water, sugar, and materials between the trunk and leaves. Branches also provide nourishment for the crown of the tree for continuous growth, while also providing structural support. Similarly, dendrites also extend from the soma to gain neuronal signals and carry impulses from other neurons/receptors to transmit them towards the cell body. The myelin sheath is an insulted layer of protection that is formed around the neuron. Correspondingly, the bark of a tree shields the tree from the outside environment surrounding it.
Dendritic spines are protrusions that are of dendrites. These spines obtain input from neurotransmitters belonging to other neurons. In addition, they create connections which help transmit efficient electrical signals to the cell body. The leaves of the tree transfer energy from the sunlight into food caused by chloroplasts to allow for the absorption of energy (photosynthesis). That energy is then transferred down the tree’s trunk all the way to the root. They are both receptors for their specific purpose.
The roots of a tree contribute to the stabilization that sustains the tree from potentially collapsing. The roots soak up nutrients/water from the soil permitting the tree’s development. Like the roots, the axon carries electrical impulses for communication within the neuron from the cell body, to other neurons, and/or effectors. These structures both serve as vital pathways for the transportation of resources.
The trunk of the tree serves as the main source of distributing essential products (water, nutrients, and sugar) to go from the leaves and branches of the tree to the roots. Structural support, shape, and height are important factors of the trunk’s function. The cell body is the foundation of the neuron cell. The soma contains a metabolic center housing organelles (e.g ribosomes, nucleus, mitochondria, etc). The generation of energy and the process of incoming signals from dendrites can only occur by authorization of the cell body. The trunk and the cell body play a crucial role for the regulation of their structures.
Nevertheless, while structurally these parts and the functions may serve to be an educating analogy, the purpose and components of trees and neuron cells are biologically and scientifically not the same. Neuron cells are a part of the human body and pertain to the nervous system, creating a vast difference between that of a tree, which is an organism/plant.
Human Anatomy (March 31, 2025)
The 8 Senses:
If you had to lose 1 sense, which would you give up and why?
If I had to lose a sense, it would be the olfactory sense. In my opinion, the most important senses needed to operate through the course of the day include the tactile, gustatory, auditory, visual, and vestibular senses. Throughout the day, I feel like these senses are used the most especially in school environements, my walking and movement because of my love for it, my love for food experiences, and more. Smell doesn't impact my day as much as these other senses do, and I rely on these senses more than anything.
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