ANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Peristalsis is a series of wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract. It starts in the esophagus where strong wave-like motions of the smooth muscle move balls of swallowed food to the stomach.

Detailed explanation-2: -Waves of muscle contractions called peristalsis (per-uh-STALL-sus) force food down through the esophagus to the stomach. A person usually isn’t aware of the muscle movements that push food through the digestive tract.

Detailed explanation-3: -Two types of movements take place in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract; peristalsis and segmentation. Peristalsis is the involuntary contraction and relaxation of longitudinal and circular muscles throughout the digestive tract, allowing for the propulsion of contents beginning in the pharynx and ending in the anus.

Detailed explanation-4: -Esophageal peristalsis results from sequential contraction of circular muscle, which serves to push the ingested food bolus toward the stomach. Esophageal longitudinal muscle may also play a role in peristalsis.

Detailed explanation-5: -In much of a digestive tract such as the human gastrointestinal tract, smooth muscle tissue contracts in sequence to produce a peristaltic wave, which propels a ball of food (called a bolus before being transformed into chyme in the stomach) along the tract.