LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1.How does the organization and contraction of smooth muscle vary between tissues to best meet the functional demands in each tissue/organ? 2.What is thick-filament regulation of smooth muscle contraction? 3.What is pharmacomechanical coupling in smooth muscle contraction? 4.What is Ca-sensitization of smooth muscle contraction, and what signaling pathways participate…

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What structures in cardiac muscle facilitate coordinated contraction of the cardiomyocytes, which is critical for the pumping action of the heart? 2 What is the sequence of events and molecular interactions by which an action potential in the sarcolemma of cardiac muscle leads to muscle contraction? 3 What…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What structures within skeletal muscle fibers participate in the longitudinal generation of force to the tendon, and which structures participate in the lateral transmission of force to the extracellular matrix? 2 How does a mutation/deficiency in dystrophin affect skeletal muscle? 3 What is the sequence of events and…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What are the similarities and differences in the general organizations of the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems? 2 What are the respective actions of the parasympathetic and sympathetic innervation of the eye, and what symptoms arise when the parasympathetic or sympathetic innervation is lost? 3 What are the changes…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What is the basic layering pattern of the neocortex, and how do cortical inputs and outputs align with this layering pattern? What is the functional significance of the variation in the layering pattern between cortical areas? 2 What are the major functions of each of the lobes of…

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions : 1 What is a motor neuron, and how are α and γ motor neurons different? 2 What is a motor unit? How does the “size principle” apply to the orderly recruitment of motor units? 3 What is a reflex, and why are reflexes useful for clinical and scientific…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What is the dark current, and how does the absorption of a photon change it? 2 What are the synaptic pathways for the central and surround portions of the receptive field of an on-center bipolar cell? Of an off-center bipolar cell? 3 What are the receptive field properties…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What are the major modalities of somatosensory information, and what are the corresponding pathways that convey each from the periphery to the primary somatosensory cortex? 2 Which body regions and categories of information are the exteroceptive, proprioceptive, and interoceptive divisions of the somatosensory system associated with? 3 What…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What are the characteristics of electrical synapses? 2 What are the specializations found in the presynaptic and postsynaptic elements of a chemical synapse? 3 What sequence of events connect the arrival of the action potential at the presynaptic terminal to the entry of calcium? 4 What sequence of…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 How is a nerve membrane’s response to small-amplitude stimuli like a passive electric circuit comprising batteries, resistors, and capacitors? 2 What factors determine the time and length constants of a nerve membrane? How do these constants shape the electric responses of the nerve membrane? 3 How does an…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What are the major cell types of the central and peripheral nervous systems? 2 What are the major components of a neuron, and what are their functional roles? 3 What are the functional roles of the major glial cell types? 4 What are the main divisions of the…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions : 1 How do cells communicate with each other? 2 What are the four classes of receptors, and what signal transduction pathways are associated with each class of receptors? 3 How do steroid and thyroid hormones, cyclic adenosine monophosphate, and receptor tyrosine kinases regulate gene expression? IN THE CLINIC…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What is steady-state balance, and, with water balance as an example, what are the elements needed to achieve steady-state balance? 2 What are the volumes of the body fluid compartments, and how do they change under various conditions? 3 How do the body fluid compartments differ with regard…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able to answer the following questions: 1 What organelles are found in a typical eukaryotic cell, and what is their function? 2 What is the composition of the plasma membrane? 3 What are the major classes of membrane transport proteins, and how do they transport biologically important molecules and ions across the plasma membrane? 4…