MUSCLE PHYSIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Smooth muscle is also responsible for waves of contraction throughout the digestive system, forcing food to move through the body (peristalsis). As with cardiac and skeletal muscle cells, smooth muscle cells contract as a result of depolarization of the sarcolemma.

Detailed explanation-2: -Overview. 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-3: -Skeletal muscle fibers are cylindrical, multinucleated, striated, and under voluntary control. Smooth muscle cells are spindle shaped, have a single, centrally located nucleus, and lack striations. They are called involuntary muscles.

Detailed explanation-4: -Smooth muscle contains thick and thin filaments that do not arrange into sarcomeres, resulting in a non-striated pattern.

Detailed explanation-5: -Visceral smooth muscle arranged in layers around a hollow organ generally produces slow, steady contractions known as peristalsis that allow substances, such as food in the digestive tract, to move through the body.