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Muscle contraction: Motor Multiple Unit Summation

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Explain how a slight (but smooth) contraction differs from a vigorous contraction of the same muscle; use the concepts of multiple motor unit summation.

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Muscle contraction in light of motor multiple unit summation is discussed in this solution.

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Adjusting Tension in Whole Muscles

A twitch contraction is the simplest of all muscle contractions. It is a brief contraction of all the muscle fibers in a motor unit of a muscle in response to a single action potential in its motor neuron. But most muscle movements in the body are not twitches. Therefore, the amount of tension or force that a skeletal muscle can develop must vary. It depends on the frequency of stimulation of the muscle fibers, the length of ...

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