Name:

Exercise 2: Skeletal Muscle Physiology: Activity 1: The Muscle Twitch and the Latent Period Lab Report

Pre-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 5 out of 5 questions correctly.

1. Skeletal muscles are connected to bones by

You correctly answered: b. tendons.

2. Skeletal muscles are composed of hundreds to thousands of individual cells called

You correctly answered: c. fibers.

3. The term motor unit refers to

You correctly answered: c. one motor neuron and all of the skeletal muscle fibers it innervates.

4. The motor neuron and muscle fiber intersect at what is called

You correctly answered: d. the neuromuscular junction.

5. A twitch is
You correctly answered: a. one contractile response to a single action potential.

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Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question: Will changes to the stimulus voltage alter the duration of the latent period?
Your answer : b. No, changing the stimulus voltage will not change the latent period duration.

Stop & Think Questions:

What is the period of time that elapses between the generation of an action potential and the start of muscle tension
development in a muscle fiber?
You correctly answered: c. the latent period

What occurs during the latent period of these isometric contractions?

You correctly answered: b. All the steps of excitation-contraction coupling occur.

Experiment Data:

Voltage Length Active Force Passive Force Total Force Latent Period
0.0 75 0.0 0.0 0.0 ----
3.0 75 1.04 0.0 1.04 ----
4.0 75 1.32 0.0 1.32 3.20
2.0 75 0.66 0.0 0.66 3.20
6.0 75 1.65 0.0 1.65 3.20
8.0 75 1.81 0.0 1.81 3.20
10.0 75 1.82 0.0 1.82 3.20

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Post-lab Quiz Results
You scored 100% by answering 6 out of 6 questions correctly.

1. An action potential in a motor neuron triggers the release of which neurotransmitter?

You correctly answered: b. acetylcholine

2. The term skeletal muscle fiber refers to

You correctly answered: a. an individual skeletal muscle cell.

3. The graded depolarization in the skeletal muscle fiber that is elicited in response to one action potential from the motor
neuron is called
You correctly answered: c. an EPP (end-plate potential).

4. Which of the following is not a phase of a skeletal muscle twitch?

You correctly answered: b. hyperpolarization phase

5. A skeletal muscle twitch is

You correctly answered: a. one contractile response to a single action potential.

6. Which of the following correctly matches the twitch phase with its definition?
You correctly answered: d. the contraction phase: the time between the end of the latent period and peak muscle tension

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Review Sheet Results
1. Define the terms skeletal muscle fiber, motor unit, skeletal muscle twitch, electrical stimulus, and latent period.
Your answer:
Fibra muscular esquelética:
Se denomina así porque está unido a los huesos del esqueleto. Este se puede contraer o relajar de manera consciente y
permite distintos movimientos para poder caminar, correr, levantar objetos, etc.

Unidad motora:
Consiste en una neurona motora y todas las fibras musculares que inerva.

Contracción del musculo esquelético:

La respuesta mecánica a un único potencial de acción.

Estimulación eléctrica:
Puede generar contracciones musculares.

Periodo latente:
El período de tiempo que transcurre entre la generación de un potencial de acción en una célula muscular y el inicio de la
contracción muscular. Aunque no se genera fuerza durante este período, se producen cambios químicos, incluida la
liberación de calcio, intracelularmente como preparación para la contracción.

2. What is the role of acetylcholine in a skeletal muscle contraction?

Your answer:
Se une a los receptores e inicia un cambio en la permeabilidad de los iones que da como resultado la contracción de la
célula muscular.

3. Describe the process of excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle fibers.

Your answer:
Este es todo el proceso de la unión neuromuscular que conduce al potencial de la placa terminal. Un potencial de acción en
una neurona motora desencadenará la liberación de acetilcolina. Luego se difundirá en la fibra muscular y se unirá a
receptores que cambian la permeabilidad iónica que da como resultado una contracción de la célula muscular.

4. Describe the three phases of a skeletal muscle twitch.

Your answer:
Periodo latente, fase de contracción y fase de relajación.

5. Does the duration of the latent period change with different stimulus voltages? How well did the results compare with
your prediction?
Your answer:
No cambia.

6. At the threshold stimulus, do sodium ions start to move into or out of the cell to bring about the membrane
depolarization?
Your answer:
Los iones de sodio se mueven en la célula durante el estímulo de umbral para hacer la membrana despolarizar.

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