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

Pre-lab Quiz Results

You scored 40% by answering 2 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
Your answer : d. myofilaments.
Correct answer: c. fibers.
3. The term motor unit refers to
Your answer : d. one motor neuron that innervates several skeletal muscles.
Correct answer: 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
Your answer : a. the excitatory synapse.
Correct answer: 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
0.0
3.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0

Length
75
75
75
75
75
75

Active Force
0.00
1.04
1.32
1.65
1.81
1.82

Passive Force
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

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Total Force
0.00
1.04
1.32
1.65
1.81
1.82

Latent Period
----2.80
2.80
2.80
2.80

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Post-lab Quiz Results

You scored 85% by answering 6 out of 7 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
Your answer: a. an EPSP (excitatory postsynaptic potential).
Correct answer: 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
7. A sufficiently strong electrical stimulus applied to an isolated, mounted skeletal muscle induces the development of
muscle force, or muscle tension. Which of the following statements concerning this observation is true?
You correctly answered: c. The electrical stimulus mimics acetylcholine release at a neuromuscular junction

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Review Sheet Results

1. Define the terms skeletal muscle fiber, motor unit, skeletal muscle twitch, electrical stimulus, and latent period.
You did not answer this question.
2. What is the role of acetylcholine in a skeletal muscle contraction?
You did not answer this question.
3. Describe the process of excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle fibers.
You did not answer this question.
4. Describe the three phases of a skeletal muscle twitch.
You did not answer this question.
5. Does the duration of the latent period change with different stimulus voltages? How well did the results compare with
your prediction?
You did not answer this question.
6. At the threshold stimulus, do sodium ions start to move into or out of the cell to bring about the membrane
depolarization?
You did not answer this question.

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