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What Is Neuromuscular Junction?

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A neuromuscular junction is a chemical conjunction formed during the contact between motor neuron and a muscle fiber. Each branch of a motoneuron forms a single junction with a muscle fiber (University of Minnesota, 2011). At the neuromuscular junction, the motor neuron is able to send a signal to the muscle fiber which ultimately allows for muscle contraction. The operation, when the neurotransmitter, are released by a neuron begins when the action potential reaches the presynaptic terminal of the neuron, which then activates calcium channels allowing calcium ions to enter the neurons. The calcium ions that entered the neuron then bind to a sensory protein like synaptotagmin, releasing vesicle fusion across the cell membrane. Vesicles are …show more content…

Our body has three muscle types, skeletal muscle , cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Each muscle has different functions within the body. Cardiac muscle is located in the heart and is responsible for pumping blood within the heart. Cardiac muscle is one of the two muscles with an activity that is non-voluntary meaning that signal from the motor neuron is not required for blood to pump through the heart. The second type of muscle is smooth muscle which is located in the intestines and responsible for moving food and regulating blood pressure(Freeman, 2011). Like cardiac muscle, smooth muscle also requires non-voluntary activity, where the signal from the motor neurons is not required for it to function properly. Lastly, the most important muscle in the neuromuscular junction, skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscle is attached to the bones through tendons composed of connective tissue and is responsible for moving the skeleton, however unlike the other two muscle types, skeletal muscle requires voluntary activity meaning that signal from the motor neurons is required (Ritchison, 2016). In this paper, I will be discussing the functions and parts of the neuromuscular …show more content…

As Lyn D. Weiss et al. (2016) states in Easy EMG: A Guide to Performing Nerve Conduction Studies and Electromyography, the neuromuscular junction is the relay between the nerve terminal and the skeletal muscle fiber. The neuromuscular junction as a whole is the site where the neurons activate the muscle to actually contract. The steps of the neuromuscular junction are supposed to happen quickly and accurately while ensuring voluntary movement of the muscles. The reliability of transmission is aided by specialized architecture (multiple active zones, junctional folds), which has been all studied more closely throughout the last century (Hong and Etherington, 2011). According to “Annual Review of Neuroscience,” the NMJ forms in a series of steps that involve the exchange of signals amid its three important cellular components—nerve terminal, muscle fiber, and Schwann cell (Cowan, 1999). All three cells of the neuromuscular junction travel long distances to meet at the synapse(Cowan,

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