ANAT 1010 Lecture 11: MUSCULAR SYSTEM AND SURFACE ANATOMY

• School: Dalhousie University
• Department: Anatomy
• Course: ANAT 1010
• Professor: Allen Gary

Document Summary

Muscular system and surface anatomy (chapters 11 and 12: how skeletal muscles produce movement, origin and insertion. Most movements require several muscles acting cooperatively in groups rather than individually; in addition, most skeletal muscles are arranged in opposing (antagonistic) pairs at joints. A synergist is a muscle that serves to steady a movement in order to prevent unwanted movements and help the prime mover function more efficiently. Some synergists in a group also act as fixators, which stabilize the origin of a prime mover so that the prime mover can act more efficiently. Under different conditions and depending on the movement and which point is fixed, many muscles act, at various times, as prime movers, antagonists, synergists, or fixators: naming skeletal muscles. The names of most of the nearly 700 skeletal muscles are based on a number of different characteristics: i. direction, shape, origin and insertion, location or action.