Characteristics of Muscle Tissue

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Chapter: Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals: Support and Movement: Muscle Tissue

Muscle tissue has four unique characteristics, which include excitability, contractility, extensibility, and elasticity.


Characteristics of Muscle Tissue

Muscle tissue has four unique characteristics, which include excitability, contractility, extensibility, and elasticity.


Excitability

Excitability is also called responsiveness, which is the cells’ ability to receive and respond to stimuli. Cells accomplish this by changing their membrane potential. Stimuli within muscles are usually chemi-cals such as neurotransmitters released by nerve cells. Excitability is the ability of muscle fibers to respond quickly to stimuli. It is controlled by the chemical and electrical states of the sarcolemma, and how long since a previous stimulus was applied.

Contractility

Contractility is the ability of muscle tissues to forcibly become shorter when sufficient stimulation is supplied. This ability is unique in muscle tissue compared to all other types of tissue. Contractility is defined as the abil-ity to reduce in size or to develop increased tension.

Extensibility

Extensibility is the ability of muscle tissue to stretch or extend. Muscle cells can shorten when they contract and also stretch when relaxed. They are able to stretch beyond their resting length.

Elasticity

Elasticity is the ability of muscle tissues to recoil. They can then resume their resting lengths after stretching.

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