Neuromuscular Fundamentals

How Our Musculature is Controlled

Nassir H. Sabah

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781000191448
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Astronomy & Astrophysics

This book is rather unique in its approach and coverage. The approach is essentially that of an engineering textbook, emphasizing the quantitative aspects and highlighting the fundamentals and basic concepts involved. The coverage progresses in a logical and systematic manner from the subcellular, starting with the electrophysiology of the cell membrane, then proceeding to synapses, neurons, and muscle, before considering neuronal motor ensembles and the neuromuscular system as a whole. Simple, clear, and comprehensive explanations are given throughout. After an introductory chapter on some background material in biology, biophysics, and chemical kinetics, a substantial part of the book (Chapters 2-8) necessarily covers in considerable detail the basic components and processes that underlie the electrical and associated activities of the nervous system. The remaining chapters of the book (Chapters 9-13) focus on the neuromuscular system, starting with the structure of muscle cells, the generation of force by muscular contraction, and muscle receptors. The last chapter examines aspects of the control of movement, motor learning and memory, the maintenance of posture, and locomotion, and critically examines some of the theories that have been advanced to explain how movement is controlled. The book is intended for undergraduate or graduate students in the natural sciences, mathematics, or engineering who seek a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of neuroscience and the somatomotor system, in accordance with the aforementioned objectives. The book can serve as a textbook for a one-semester course on the neuromuscular system or as a reference in a more general course on neuroscience.

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• Provides a thorough analytical treatment of membrane electrophysiology, starting from the first principles

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• Emphasizes strongly the basic and fundamental concepts throughout

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• Discusses thoroughly the essential features and properties of the basic constituents of the nervous system, that is, neurons and synapses, including the neuromuscular junction

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• Explains the main aspects of posture, locomotion, and control of movement

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• Includes practice problems throughout the text and a solutions manual will be available for adopting professors

Nassir Sabah is professor of biomedical engineering in the electrical and computer engineering department at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He received his B.Sc. (Hons. Class I) and his M.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Birmingham, U.K., and his Ph.D. in biophysical sciences from the State University of New York (SUNY/Buffalo). He has served as Chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department, Director of the Institute of Computer Studies, and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the American University of Beirut. In these capacities, he was responsible for the development of programs, curricula, and courses in electrical, biomedical, communications, and computer engineering.

Professor Sabah has extensive professional experience in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, and computer systems, with more than 35 years' teaching experience in neuroengineering, biomedical engineering, electronics, and electric circuits. He has over 100 technical publications, mainly in neurophysiology, biophysics, and biomedical instrumentation.

He has served on numerous committees and panels in Lebanon and the region. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET, U.K.), a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

1
Introduction: Background Material

Objective and Overview

The chapter provides some general background material for subsequent chapters and for following the relevant literature. The first part (Sections 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3) deals with some biological background, starting with living cells and cell organelles that are important for later discussions. Specialized cells, namely neurons and glia, which are the constituents of the nervous system, are considered next, with emphasis on some of their basic features. In order to appreciate the references to various parts of the nervous system in the following chapters, Section 1.3 presents the general organization of this system, including the main subdivisions of the brain.

Section 1.4 is concerned with some basic concepts on diffusion, fluxes, and potentials. The concept of chemical potential is explained and the expression for chemical potential derived. The concept of chemical potential and its expression are then generalized to those of electrochemical potential, and some important conclusions involving electrochemical potential are drawn. The definition of permeability and its relation to diffusion are considered.

The concepts introduced in Section 1.4 are used to discuss ionic equilibriums in Section 1.5, including the well-known case of the Gibbs–Donnan equilibrium. The chapter ends with an introduction to chemical kinetics and their extension to the kinetics of ion-channel gating.

1.1 Living Cells

All living cells have a surrounding envelope referred to as the cell membrane, or plasma membrane. Animal cells are eukaryotic, that is, they have a well-developed nucleus and other membrane-bounded organelles, which are cell elements that perform some specialized functions. Figure 1.1 illustrates a typical eukaryotic cell and some of its organelles. The part of the cell that is outside the nucleus and bounded by the cell membrane is the cytoplasm. The cytosol, or intracellular fluid, is the liquid part of the cytoplasm, exclusive of organelles. It consists of a complex mixture of substances that are dissolved or suspended in water. The cell membrane is discussed in considerable detail in Sections 2.1 and 2.2. The following cell organelles are particularly relevant for our purposes.

FIGURE 1.1
Eukaryotic cell and cell organelles.

1.1.1 Endoplasmic Reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an elaborate network of vesicles, tubules, and cisternae. It can take the form of a rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) because of the presence of ribosomes, which are granular structures that are the sites of protein synthesis. Ribosomes can also be free in the cytosol in addition to being membrane-bound in the RER. The RER is thus involved in the synthesis of integral membrane proteins and proteins that are to be secreted outside the cell, including hormones. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) is almost devoid of ribosomes and is involved in the synthesis of lipids and steroids and in Ca²⁺ homeostasis, that is, regulation of Ca²⁺ concentration in the cytosol, by acting as the principal store of Ca²⁺ in the cell. A type of SER, the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), is found in muscle cells (Section 9.1.2) and is specialized for the uptake and release of Ca²⁺.

1.1.2 Mitochondria

The mit...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Convention for Symbols
• Author Biography
• 1. Introduction: Background Material
• 2. The Cell Membrane in the Steady State
• 3. Generation of the Action Potential
• 4. Propagation of the Action Potential
• 5. The Neuromuscular Junction
• 6. Synapses
• 7. Neurons
• 8. Neuronal Firing Patterns and Models
• 9. Skeletal Muscle
• 10. Functional Properties of Muscle
• 11. Spinal Cord and Reflexes
• 12. Brain Motor Centers and Pathways
• 13. Control of Movement and Posture
• Bibliography and References
• Index