Which involuntary muscle is found

Smooth muscle tissue is found associated with numerous other organs and tissue systems such as the digestive system or respiratory system. It plays an important role in the regulation of flow in such tissues for example aiding the movement of food through the digestive system via peristalsis. Smooth muscle is non-striated, although it contains the same myofilaments they are just organized differently, and involuntary. Smooth muscle myocytes are spindle shaped with a single centrally located nucleus.

Muscle Types : Cardiac and skeletal muscle are both striated in appearance, while smooth muscle is not. Both cardiac and smooth muscle are involuntary while skeletal muscle is voluntary.

Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Organization at the Tissue Level. Search for:. Muscular Tissue. Muscles are the only tissue in the body that have the ability to contract and therefore move the other parts of the body. They also perform different functions such as: enable the body to maintain posture and body position sitting or standing positions , stabilize and strengthen joints as well as produce heat to maintain normal body temperature.

The function of the involuntary muscles is to cause variations in shape or inner diameter of the organs movement of substances inside the body, favoring possible passageways or the exclusion of contents. Their contraction is regulated by the autonomic nervous system. An example of an involuntary muscle is the heart. When the involuntary muscles of the hollow organs such as blood vessels and intestine contract, it causes a reduction in the wall surfaces in which the muscle fibers themselves are found in.

When the contraction phase follows distension, the surfaces of the walls of the organs return to their usual dimensions. The repetition of the mechanism is essential to allowing the regulation of blood vessel tone and giving rise to movements vital for the well being of the organism, such as intestinal peristalsis.

Muscle disorders may cause weakness, pain or even paralysis. Different types of muscle The three main types of muscle include: Skeletal muscle — the specialised tissue that is attached to bones and allows movement. Together, skeletal muscles and bones are called the musculoskeletal system also known as the locomotor system. Generally speaking, skeletal muscle is grouped into opposing pairs such as the biceps and triceps on the front and back of the upper arm.

Skeletal muscles are under our conscious control, which is why they are also known as voluntary muscles. Another term is striated muscles, since the tissue looks striped when viewed under a microscope. Smooth muscle — located in various internal structures including the digestive tract, uterus and blood vessels such as arteries.

Smooth muscle is arranged in layered sheets that contract in waves along the length of the structure. Another common term is involuntary muscle, since the motion of smooth muscle happens without our conscious awareness. Cardiac muscle — the muscle specific to the heart. The heart contracts and relaxes without our conscious awareness. Make-up of muscle Skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle have very different functions, but they share the same basic composition.

A muscle is made up of thousands of elastic fibres bundled tightly together. Each bundle is wrapped in a thin transparent membrane called a perimysium. An individual muscle fibre is made up of blocks of proteins called myofibrils, which contain a specialised protein myoglobin and molecules to provide the oxygen and energy required for muscle contraction. Each myofibril contains filaments that fold together when given the signal to contract. This shortens the length of the muscle fibre which, in turn, shortens the entire muscle if enough fibres are stimulated at the same time.

The neuromuscular system The brain, nerves and skeletal muscles work together to cause movement. This is collectively known as the neuromuscular system. A typical muscle is serviced by anywhere between 50 and or more branches of specialised nerve cells called motor neurones. These plug directly into the skeletal muscle. The tip of each branch is called a presynaptic terminal.

The point of contact between the presynaptic terminal and the muscle is called the neuromuscular junction.