Overview
- Authors:
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Gerta Vrbová
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Department of Anatomy and Embryology, University College, London, UK
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Tessa Gordon
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Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Canada
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Rosemary Jones
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Department of Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, UK
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
Pages i-xiii
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 1-13
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 14-32
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 33-52
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 53-80
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 81-104
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 105-118
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 119-146
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 147-165
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- Gerta Vrbová, Tessa Gordon, Rosemary Jones
Pages 166-181
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Back Matter
Pages 182-233
About this book
In the second century, Galen recognized that nerve and muscle were functionally inseparable since contraction of muscle occurred only if the nerves supplying that muscle were intact. He therefore concluded that the shortening of a muscle was controlled by the central nervous sytem while the extension of a muscle could occur in the absence of innervation. Nerves, he thought, were the means of transport for animal spirits to the muscles; the way in which animal spirits may bring about contraction dominated the study of muscle physiology from that time until the historical discovery of Galvani that muscle could be stimulated electrically and that nerve and muscle were themselves a source of electrical energy. It is now well known that nerves conduct electrically and that transmission from nerve to striated muscle is mediated by the chemical which is liberated from nerve terminals onto the muscle membrane. In vertebrates this chemical is acetylcholine (ACh). Thus the concept of spirits that are released from nerves and control muscle contraction directly, is no longer tenable. Nevertheless the concept of 'substances' transported down nerv~s which directly control many aspects of muscle has not been abandoned, and has in fact been frequently reinvoked to account for the long-term regula tion of many characteristics of muscle (see review by Gutmann, 1976) and for the maintenance of its structural integrity.
Authors and Affiliations
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Department of Anatomy and Embryology, University College, London, UK
Gerta Vrbová
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Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Canada
Tessa Gordon
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Department of Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, UK
Rosemary Jones
