The Heart
Cardiovascular System: The Heart
Purpose
Explain why you did this exercise. Where there any safety precautions you needed to follow? If so, what were they?
The safety precautions in this exercise were to wear goggles and gloves due to being exposed to chemicals and dissection of the sheep and cat heart. Appropriate work space was also required.
Exercise 1: Microscopic Anatomy of Cardiac Muscle Observations
Sketch and label your slide in the space provided. Include a description of the structures you observed on the slide.
See attached picture labeled cardiac muscle
Questions
A. What are some unique structural features of cardiac muscle? Cardiac muscle is essentially limited to the heart, though it extends slightly into the nearby blood vessels. It too, is striated, but it differs from skeletal muscle. As far as the features, the cells are much shorter, so they are called myocytes rather than fibers. Cardiac muscle is considered involuntary because it is not usually under conscious control; it contracts even if all nerve connections to it are severed.
B. What are intercalated discs and what do they do?
Intercalated disks are cross-bands that separate the opposing ends of cardiac muscle cells. These bands are the result of elaborate junctions of membranes at the cell's boundary. They help to hold adjacent cells together and transmit the force of contraction from cell to cell. Intercellular junctions between the fused membranes of the intercalated disks allow diffusion of ions between the cells. This makes it possible for muscle impulses to travel rapidly from cell to cell.
C. Why does cardiac muscle have to be both elastic and strong?
Cardiac muscle has to both elastic and strong to provide physical support for the cardiac muscle fibers, blood vessels, and nerves of the myocardium, help distribute
Purpose
Explain why you did this exercise. Where there any safety precautions you needed to follow? If so, what were they?
The safety precautions in this exercise were to wear goggles and gloves due to being exposed to chemicals and dissection of the sheep and cat heart. Appropriate work space was also required.
Exercise 1: Microscopic Anatomy of Cardiac Muscle Observations
Sketch and label your slide in the space provided. Include a description of the structures you observed on the slide.
See attached picture labeled cardiac muscle
Questions
A. What are some unique structural features of cardiac muscle? Cardiac muscle is essentially limited to the heart, though it extends slightly into the nearby blood vessels. It too, is striated, but it differs from skeletal muscle. As far as the features, the cells are much shorter, so they are called myocytes rather than fibers. Cardiac muscle is considered involuntary because it is not usually under conscious control; it contracts even if all nerve connections to it are severed.
B. What are intercalated discs and what do they do?
Intercalated disks are cross-bands that separate the opposing ends of cardiac muscle cells. These bands are the result of elaborate junctions of membranes at the cell's boundary. They help to hold adjacent cells together and transmit the force of contraction from cell to cell. Intercellular junctions between the fused membranes of the intercalated disks allow diffusion of ions between the cells. This makes it possible for muscle impulses to travel rapidly from cell to cell.
C. Why does cardiac muscle have to be both elastic and strong?
Cardiac muscle has to both elastic and strong to provide physical support for the cardiac muscle fibers, blood vessels, and nerves of the myocardium, help distribute