Nervous & Muscle Tissue

Nervous Tissue

• Main component of the nervous system
• Brain, spinal cord, and nerves

Neurons

• highly specialized
• generate and conduct nerve impuleses

Muscle Tissue

• Well vascularized
• 3 types
• Skeletal, cardiac, smooth

Skeletal

• As they contract, they pull on bones or skin, causing body movements
• Skeletal muscle cells are also called muscle fibers

Skeletal

• Striated, long, & cylindrical appearance

Cardiac Muscle

• Found only in heart
• Also striated, but different from skeletal

Cardiac

• Uninucleate
• Branching cells that fit together tightly and unique junctions called intercalated discs

Smooth

• No visible striations
• spindle shaped
• One centrally located nucleus

Smooth

• walls of hollow organs other than the heart,
• alternately contracts and relaxes
• involuntary control