LOCOMOTION AND

MOVEMENT_CLASS XI_ISC
 SKELETAL SYSTEM

• Skeletal system consists of a framework of bones and a few cartilages. This

system has a significant role in movement shown by the body

• Imagine chewing food without jawbones and walking around without the
limb bones. Bone and cartilage are specialised connective tissues!

• The former has a very hard matrix due to calcium salts in it and the latter has
slightly pliable matrix due to chondroitin salts

• In human beings, this system is made up of 206 bones and a few cartilages

• It is grouped into two principal divisions – the axial and the appendicular
skeleton
 Axial skeleton
• Axial skeleton comprises 80 bones distributed along the main axis of the body

• The skull, vertebral column, sternum and ribs constitute axial skeleton.
• It forms the endoskeleton of head and is formed of 29 bones

• The skull is composed of two sets of bones –cranial and facial

• Cranial bones are 8 in number

• They form the hard protective outer covering, cranium for the brain

• The facial region is made up of 14 skeletal elements which form the front part of the
skull

• A single U-shaped bone called hyoid is present at the base of the buccal cavity
and it is also included in the skull

• Each middle ear contains three tiny bones – Malleus, Incus and Stapes,
collectively called Ear Ossicles
• The skull region articulates with the superior region of the vertebral column
with the help of two occipital condyles (dicondylic skull)
BONES OF THE CRANIUM NUMBER OF BONES POSITION

FRONTAL 1 Forms the forehead

PARIETAL 2 Large and flat that extend from the top of the skull
to the sides

OCCIPITAL 1 Forms from the back and base of the skull. Has a
large opening called foramen magnum through
which the spinal cord arises from the brain stem

TEMPORAL 2 From the sides of the skull each having an opening

that leads to the middle ear

SPHENOID 1 From the floor of the cranium extending from one side to
the other, shaped like a bat with its wings outstretched and
it articulates with the all other bones of the cranium and
also forms the eye sockets at the back of the skull

ETHMOID 1 Forms orbits and the nasal septum and present in front of
the sphenoid
 VERTEBRAL COLUMN
• Our vertebral column is formed by 26
serially arranged units called vertebrae and
is dorsally placed
• It extends from the base of the skull and
constitutes the main framework of the
trunk. Each vertebra has a central hollow
portion (neural canal) through which the
spinal cord passes
Acoelous—type of vertebrae found in Amphiplatyan vertebrae are flat on both
most mammals, in which the ends of the sides as in mammals
centrum are flat, and the vertebrae are
separated by an intervertebral disc.
• First vertebra is the atlas and it articulates with the occipital condyles. The vertebral column is
differentiated into cervical (7), thoracic (12), lumbar (5), sacral (1-fused) and coccygeal (1-fused)
regions starting from the skull
• The number of cervical vertebrae are seven in almost all mammals
including human beings

• The vertebral column protects the spinal cord, supports the head and serves
as the point of attachment for the ribs and musculature of the back

• Sternum is a flat bone on the ventral midline of thorax

 RIBS AND RIB CAGE
• There are 12 pairs of ribs

• Each rib is a thin flat bone connected dorsally to the vertebral column and
ventrally to the sternum

• It has two articulation surfaces on its dorsal end and is hence called bicephalic.
First seven pairs of ribs are called true ribs
• Dorsally, they are attached to the thoracic vertebrae and ventrally connected to
the sternum with the help of hyaline cartilage

• The 8th, 9th and 10th pairs of ribs do not articulate directly with the sternum but
join the seventh rib with the help of hyaline cartilage

• These are called vertebrochondral (false) ribs

• Last 2 pairs (11th and 12th) of ribs are not connected ventrally and are therefore,
called floating ribs.

• Thoracic vertebrae, ribs and sternum together form the rib cage
APPENDICULAR SKELETON

The bones of the limbs along with their girdles constitute the appendicular skeleton

Each limb is made of 30 bones

The bones of the hand (fore limb) are humerus, radius and ulna, carpals (wrist bones –
8 in number), metacarpals (palm bones – 5 in number) and phalanges (digits – 14 in
number)

Femur (thigh bone – the longest bone), tibia and fibula, tarsals (ankle bones – 7 in
number), metatarsals (5 in number) and phalanges (digits – 14 in number) are the bones
of the legs (hind limb)

A cup shaped bone called patella cover the knee ventrally (knee cap)

Pectoral and Pelvic girdle bones help in the articulation of the upper and the lower limbs
respectively with the axial skeleton.
PECTORAL GIRDLE
Each girdle is formed of two halves. Each half of pectoral girdle consists of a clavicle and a
scapula

Scapula is a large triangular flat bone situated in the dorsal part of the thorax between
the second and the seventh ribs

The dorsal, flat, triangular body of scapula has a slightly elevated ridge called the spine
which projects as a flat, expanded process called the acromion. The clavicle articulates
with this

Below the acromion is a depression called the glenoid cavity which articulates with the
head of the humerus to form the shoulder joint

Each clavicle is a long slender bone with two curvatures. This bone is commonly called the
collar bone
PELVIC GIRDLE

Pelvic girdle consists of two coxal bones

Each coxal bone is formed by the fusion of three bones – ilium, ischium and pubis.

At the point of fusion of the above bones is a cavity called acetabulum to which the
thigh bone articulates

The two halves of the pelvic girdle meet ventrally to form the pubic symphysis
containing fibrous cartilage
JOINTS
Joint are essential for all types of movements involving the bony parts of the body.
Locomotory movements are no exception to this

Joints are points of contact between bones, or between bones and cartilages

Force generated by the muscles is used to carry out movement through joints, where the
joint acts as a fulcrum

The movability at these joints vary depending on different factors

Joints have been classified into three major structural forms, namely, fibrous,
cartilaginous and synovial
Fibrous joints do not allow any movement

This type of joint is shown by the flat skull bones which fuse end-to-end with the help of
dense fibrous connective tissues in the form of sutures, to form the cranium

In cartilaginous joints, the bones involved are joined together with the help of cartilages
The joint between the adjacent vertebrae in the vertebral column is of this pattern and it
permits limited movements
SYNOVIAL JOINTS

Synovial joints are characterised by the presence of a fluid filled synovial cavity
between the articulating surfaces of the two bones

Such an arragement allows considerable movement

These joints help in locomotion and many other movements

Ball and socket joint (between humerus and pectoral girdle), Hinge joint (knee
joint), Pivot joint (between atlas and axis), Gliding joint (between the carpals) and
Saddle joint (between carpal and metacarpal of thumb) are some examples
HINGE JOINT

movement only in one plane

Condyle like projection of one bone fits into
the concavity of another bone
elbow, knee and joints between phalanges
PIVOT JOINT
SADDLE JOINT
GLIDING JOINT
FUNCTIONS OF THE ENDOSKELETON

• Gives form to the body

• Provides support to the body
• Movement
• Protection of all internal organs from external pressures, injuries
• Helps in breathing
• Ear ossicles help in hearing
• Haemopoiesis by femur, humerus, sternum, scapula
• The bulk of body’s calcium remains the bones
• Cartilages of larynx help in sound production
• Marrow cavity of long bones store fat
• FUNCTIONS OF THE SKULL
 MUSCLE

• Muscle is a specialised tissue of mesodermal origin

• About 40-50 per cent of the body weight of a human adult is contributed
by muscles
• They have special properties like excitability, contractility, extensibility and
elasticity. Muscles have been classified using different criteria, namely
location, appearance and nature of regulation of their activities
• Based on their location, three types of muscles are identified : (i) Skeletal
(ii) Visceral and (iii) Cardiac.
• Skeletal muscles are closely associated with the skeletal components of
the body
• They have a striped appearance under the microscope and hence are
called striated muscles
• As their activities are under the voluntary control of the nervous system,
they are known as voluntary muscles too. They are primarily involved in
locomotory actions and changes of body postures

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 MUSCLE…
• Visceral muscles are located in the inner walls of hollow visceral
organs of the body like the alimentary canal, reproductive tract, etc.
• They do not exhibit any striation and are smooth in appearance.
Hence, they are called smooth muscles (nonstriated muscle)
• Their activities are not under the voluntary control of the nervous
system and are therefore known as involuntary muscles
• They assist, for example, in the transportation of food through the
digestive tract and gametes through the genital tract
• As the name suggests, Cardiac muscles are the muscles of heart
• Many cardiac muscle cells assemble in a branching pattern to form
a cardiac muscle. Based on appearance, cardiac muscles are striated
• They are involuntary in nature as the nervous system does not
control their activities directly

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 STRUCTURE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE
• Each organised skeletal muscle in our body is made of a number of
muscle bundles or fascicles held together by a common collagenous
connective tissue layer called fascia
• Each muscle bundle contains a number of muscle fibres
• Muscle fibre is lined by the plasma membrane called sarcolemma
enclosing the sarcoplasm
• Muscle fibre is a syncitium as the sarcoplasm contains many nuclei.
The endoplasmic reticulum, i.e., sarcoplasmic reticulum of the
muscle fibres is the store house of calcium ions
• A characteristic feature of the muscle fibre is the presence of a
large number of parallelly arranged filaments in the sarcoplasm
called myofilaments or myofibrils. Each myofibril has alternate dark
and light bands on it

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STRUCTURE OF A MYOFIBRIL
 STRUCTURE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE…
• A detailed study of the myofibril has established that the striated
appearance is due to the distribution pattern of two important
proteins – Actin and Myosin
• The light bands contain actin and is called I-band or Isotropic band,
whereas the dark band called ‘A’ or Anisotropic band contains
myosin
• Both the proteins are arranged as rod-like structures, parallel to
each other and also to the longitudinal axis of the myofibrils
• Actin filaments are thinner as compared to the myosin filaments,
hence are commonly called thin and thick filaments respectively. In
the centre of each ‘I’ band is an elastic fibre called ‘Z’ line which
bisects it
• The thin filaments are firmly attached to the ‘Z’ line

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 STRUCTURE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE…
• The thick filaments in the ‘A’ band are also held together in
the middle of this band by a thin fibrous membrane called
‘M’ line
• The ‘A’ and ‘I’ bands are arranged alternately throughout
the length of the myofibrils. The portion of the myofibril
between two successive ‘Z’ lines is considered as the
functional unit of contraction and is called a sarcomere
• In a resting state, the edges of thin filaments on either side
of the thick filaments partially overlap the free ends of the
thick filaments leaving the central part of the thick
filaments
• This central part of thick filament, not overlapped by thin
filaments is called the ‘H’ zone

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 Structure of Contractile Proteins
• Each actin (thin) filament is made of two ‘F’
(filamentous) actins helically wound to each other
• Each ‘F’ actin is a polymer of monomeric ‘G’ (Globular)
actins
• Two filaments of another protein, tropomyosin also
run close to the ‘F’ actins throughout its length
• A complex protein Troponin is distributed at regular
intervals on the tropomyosin
• In the resting state a subunit of troponin masks the
active binding sites for myosin on the actin filaments

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Structure of Contractile Proteins…
• Each myosin (thick) filament is also a polymerised protein
• Many monomeric proteins called Meromyosins constitute
one thick filament
• Each meromyosin has two important parts, a globular head
with a short arm and a tail, the former being called the
heavy meromyosin (HMM) and the latter, the light
meromyosin (LMM)
• The HMM component, i.e.; the head and short arm projects
outwards at regular distance and angle from each other
from the surface of a polymerised myosin filament and is
known as cross arm
• The globular head is an active ATPase enzyme and has
binding sites for ATP and active sites for actin

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 Mechanism of Muscle Contraction: SLIDING FILAMENT
THEORY OR CROSS-BRIDGE THEORY OR RATCHET THEORY

• Mechanism of muscle contraction is best explained by the sliding filament theory

which states that contraction of a muscle fibre takes place by the sliding of the thin
filaments over the thick filaments
• GIVEN BY A.F. HUXLEY, H.E. HUXLEY AND JEAN HANSON IN 1954
• Muscle contraction is initiated by a signal sent by the central nervous system (CNS)
via a motor neuron
• A motor neuron along with the muscle fibres connected to it constitute a motor
unit
• The junction between a motor neuron and the sarcolemma of the muscle fibre is
called the neuromuscular junction or motor-end plate
• A neural signal reaching this junction releases a neurotransmitter (Acetyl choline)
which generates an action potential in the sarcolemma
• This spreads through the muscle fibre and causes the release of calcium ions into
the sarcoplasm
• Increase in Ca++ level leads to the binding of calcium with a subunit of troponin on
actin filaments and thereby remove the masking of active sites for myosin
• Utilising the energy from ATP hydrolysis, the myosin head now binds to the
exposed active sites on actin to form a cross bridge

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 Mechanism of Muscle Contraction…
• This pulls the attached actin filaments towards the centre of ‘A’
band. The ‘Z’ line attached to these actins are also pulled inwards
thereby causing a shortening of the sarcomere, i.e., contraction
• It is clear from the above steps, that during shortening of the
muscle, i.e., contraction, the ‘I’ bands get reduced, whereas the ‘A’
bands retain the length
• The myosin, releasing the ADP and iP goes back to its relaxed state.
A new ATP binds and the cross-bridge is broken
• The ATP is again hydrolysed by the myosin head and the cycle of
cross bridge formation and breakage is repeated causing further
sliding
• The process continues till the Ca++ ions are pumped back to the
sarcoplasmic cisternae resulting in the masking of actin filaments

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 Mechanism of Muscle Contraction…
• This causes the return of ‘Z’ lines back to their original
position, i.e., relaxation
• The reaction time of the fibres can vary in different
muscles. Repeated activation of the muscles can lead
to the accumulation of lactic acid due to anaerobic
breakdown of glycogen in them, causing fatigue
• Muscle contains a red coloured oxygen storing
pigment called myoglobin
• Myoglobin content is high in some of the muscles
which gives a reddish appearance
• Such muscles are called the Red fibres
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 Mechanism of Muscle Contraction…
• These muscles also contain plenty of mitochondria
which can utilise the large amount of oxygen stored in
them for ATP production
• These muscles, therefore, can also be called aerobic
muscles
• On the other hand, some of the muscles possess very
less quantity of myoglobin and therefore, appear pale
or whitish
• These are the White fibres
• Number of mitochondria are also few in them, but the
amount of sarcoplasmic reticulum is high
• They depend on anaerobic process for energy
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 STIMULATION OF A MUSCLE BY A THE ENERGY OF ATPIS
MOTOR NEURON. A TRANSFERRED TO MYOSIN
ADP AND HIGH ENERGY
NEUROTRANSMITTER RELEASED AT BRIDGES OR MYOSIN HEADS
COMPOUND CREATININE
THE NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION WHICH BIND WITH ACTIN TO FORM
PHOSPHATE(CP) REACT TO
ENTERS INTO THE SARCOMERE ACTOMYOSIN COMPLEX PULLING
PRODUCE ATP AND C
THROUGH ITS MEMBRANE THE ACTIN FILAMENTS TOWARDS
CHANNEL THE CENTRE OF THE SARCOMERE

RESULTS IN INFLOW OF Na+ INSIDE

THE SARCOMERE AND GENERATES MYOSIN ATPase GETS ACTIVATED
ATP SUPPLY IS RESTORED, C
AN ACTION POTENTIAL THAT IN THE PRESENCE OF Ca++ AND
INCREASES AND CP DECREASES
TRAVELS ALONG THE LENGTH OF HYDROLYSES ATP INTO ADP AND iP
THE MUSCLE FIBRE

ACTIVE SITES OF F-ACTIN ATRE

RELEASE OF Ca++ FROM THE EXPOSED AND THESE SITES ARE
SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM INTO SPECIFIC TO MYOSIN HEADS WHICH C IS CONVERTED TO CP BY ATP
THE SARCOPLASM. Ca++ BINDS ARE DEPENDENT ON Mg++ AND PRODUCED DURING OXIDATION OF
WITH SPECIFIC SITES ON TROPONIN ATPase ACTIVITY GLYCOGEN THROUGH GLYCOLYSIS
OF ACTIN FILAMENTS

CHEMICAL EVENTS DURING MUSCLE CONTRACTION

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 CHEMICAL EVENTS DURING MUSCLE
CONTRACTION
• In an active muscle, oxygen supply soon becomes
inadequate and as a result muscle starts respiring
anaerobically to produce energy leading to accumulation of
lactic acid
• A small portion of lactic acid reenters the relaxing muscle
cells and changes into glycogen and a major part passes
into the liver
• In the liver, one fifth of lactic acid is oxidized to CO2 and
H2O
• ATP derived from this reaction is used for converting the
balance four fifth of liver lactic acid into glycogen
• Glycogen formed in the liver releases glucose into the
blood which is again converted to glycogen in the muscles

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 CHEMICAL EVENTS DURING MUSCLE
CONTRACTION…
• This Lactic Acid-Glycogen-Glucose-Glycogen cycle is the
Cori’s Cycle
• It was described by Karl Ferdinand Cori and Gerty
Theresa Cori
• Thus in muscle contraction:-
1. Oxygen is used
2. Co2 is produced
3. Glycogen is consumed
4. Heat is generated
• A part of the energy released in the process is
consumed in muscle contraction and the remaining is
lost as heat
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 RELAXATION OF MUSCLE FIBRE
• Ca++ is pumped back into the sarcoplasmic
reticulum
• As a result the troponin component becomes
free to mask the active sites of actin filaments
where myosin heads get attached
• As the cross bridges break, i.e., actin-myosin
complex breaks and the thin actin filaments
occupy their normal position again and the
muscle relaxes

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 Motor unit
• A motor neuron along with the group of muscle
fibres it innervates with its axon is a motor unit
• The terminal end of the axon of a motor neuron
widens to form a motor end-plate at the site
where it meets the skeletal muscle fibre. This is
called the neuro-muscular junction.
• At this place the sarcolemma forms many deep
folds called junctional folds into which the
branches of the axon pass.

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 Neurotransmitter vesicles
Voltage-dependent calcium fuse with the presynaptic
The action potential reaches
the axon terminal gates open, allowing calcium membrane and acetylcholine
to enter the axon terminal (ACh) is released into the
synaptic cleft via exocytosis

The flow of sodium ions

This binding causes ion
across the membrane into the
channels to open and allows
muscle cell generates an ACh binds to postsynaptic
sodium ions to flow across receptors on the sarcolemma
action potential which travels
the membrane into the
to the myofibril and results in
muscle cell
muscle contraction

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29
 THRESHOLD STIMULUS or liminal
stimulus
• The specific minimum intensity of the
stimulus(nerve impulse) required for the
contraction of the muscle fibre
• Below this intensity, the stimulus fails to evoke
contraction
• It varies from muscle fibre to fibre even within
the same muscle
• The intensity of stimulus below the threshold
value fails to evoke muscle
contraction(subliminal stimulus)
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 MUSCLE TWITCH

THREE PHASES

LATENT CONTRACTION RELAXATION

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 Muscle twitch…
Muscle Twitch is a single isolated contraction of a muscle
fibre in response to a single stimulus of appropriate intensity
1. Latent phase is the interval period between the
application of stimulus and beginning of muscle
contraction. It is of 0.01s duration in skeletal muscles and
upto 3.0s in visceral muscles
2. In the contraction phase, the muscle remains contracted
and does work. Its duration varies from 0.04s in skeletal
muscles and upto 20s in visceral muscles
3. In the relaxation phase the contracted muscle returns back
to its original relaxed or resting stage and this phase is the
longest and varies from 0.05s to 2-3s

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 Refractory period
• This is the time between two successive
stimuli during which a muscle fibre fails to
respond to the second stimulus after the first
excitation
• It is also called the resting period and varies
from 0.002-0.005s for skeletal muscle fibres
and 0.1-0.2s in cardiac muscle fibres

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 tetanus
• If a muscle fibre is stimulated by a rapid succession due to
repeated brief stimuli(nerve impulses or electric shocks) at such a
frequency that each successive stimulus comes after the refractory
period of the preceding one, the muscle remains in a state of long
contraction phase so long as the contraction continues and this
sustained contraction is called tetanus
• Much higher tension is developed in tetanus than in an isolated
twitch
• Almost all our daily activities are carried out by tetanic contraction
of muscles
• Other factors remaining constant, a muscle in tetanus lifts a much
greater load than what can be lifted by a single twitch by the same
muscle

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 SUMMATION
• When a muscle is evoked by a single inadequate stimulus,
no contraction occurs
• If two or more of these inadequate stimuli of below
threshold intensity are given in rapid succession, i.e., after
the refractory period is over but before the muscle fibre
has started relaxing, a contraction is evoked and this
additive effect is called summation
• It is like the second twitch is partially riding “piggy back” on
the first causing a cumulative response
• If succeesive small stimuli are applied, the relaxation time
between the successive twitches become shorter and the
strength of contraction increases due to summation

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 Rigor mortis
• Rigor mortis (Latin: rigor "stiffness", mortis "of death") is
one of the recognizable signs of death, caused by chemical
changes in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of
the corpse to stiffen after death
• ATP is essential during muscle contraction for dissociating
actin and myosin association producing relaxation
• After death the cells cannot synthesise ATP
• Due to fall in ATP concentration, the actomyosin-ADP bonds
that are formed during muscle contraction fails to separate
and the muscle remains in a contracted state causing the
irreversible state of contraction of muscle called death
rigor or rigor mortis

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 ALL OR NONE LAW
• A muscle fibre fails to contract if the strength of
stimulus is below threshold
• If the strength of the stimulus is equal to or higher
than this threshold stimulus, the muscle fibre will
contract with maximum force irrespective of strength
of the stimulus
• This is known as All or None Law
• All or none law means that the response of a muscle
fibre to a stimulus is not proportional to its intensity
and force of contraction cannot be increased by
enhancing the strength of the stimulus

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CATEGORY RED MUSCLE FIBRE OR SLOW WHITE MUSCLE FIBRE OR
MUSCLE FIBRE FAST MUSCLE FIBRE
ALSO KNOWN AS THINNER, DARKER SLOW THICKER, LIGHTER, FAST
DIAMETER SMALLER LARGER
COLOUR DARK RED DUE TO MORE WHITE DUE TO THE PRESENCE
MYOGLOBIN OF LITTLE OR NO MYOGLOBIN

AVAILABILITY OF OXYGEN ABUNDANT OXYGEN DEBT BUILDS UP

QUICKLY AS NO
OXYMYOGLOBIN IS STORED

MITOCHONDRIA MORE LESSERBLOOD CAPILLARIES

BLOOD CAPILLARIES MORE LESS
SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM MODERATELY DEVELOPED WELL DEVELOPED

OXIDATION AEROBIC ANAEROBIC GLYCOLYSIS

LACTIC ACID LESS OR NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNT ACCUMULATES IN LARGE
PRODUCED AMOUNT
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CATEGORY RED MUSCLE FIBRE OR SLOW WHITE MUSCLE FIBRE OR
MUSCLE FIBRE FAST MUSCLE FIBRE

FUNCTION CAN PERFORM SUSTAINED CAN PERFORM FAST AND

WORK OVER A PROLONGED STRENNUOUS WORK WITH
PERIOD AT A SLOW RATE SPEED FOR A SHORT INTERVAL

TYPE OF CONTRACTION CAPABLE OF SLOW CAPABLE OF FAST

CONTRACTIONS OVER A LONG CONTRACTIONS FOR A SHORT
PERIOPD OF TIME PERIOD

FATIGUE DO NOT GET FATIGUED EASILY GET FATIGUED QUICKLY

EXAMPLES EXTENSOR MUSCLES OF THE MUSCLES FOR EYEBALL

BACK THAT KEEP THE MOVEMENTS; FLIGHT
POSTURE AGAINST GRAVITY; MUSCLES OF SPARROW FOR
FLIGHT MUSCLES OF BIRDS SHORT FAST FLYING
FOR PROLONGED SLOW
FLYING

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 DISORDERS OF MUSCULAR AND
SKELETAL SYSTEM
1. Myasthenia gravis: Auto immune disorder affecting
neuromuscular junction leading to fatigue, weakening
and paralysis of skeletal muscle.
2. Muscular dystrophy: Progressive degeneration of skeletal
muscle mostly due to genetic disorder.
3. Tetany: Rapid spasms (wild contractions) in muscle due to
low Ca++ in body fluid.
4. Arthritis: Inflammation of joints.
5. Osteoporosis: Age-related disorder characterised by
decreased bone mass and increased chances of fractures.
Decreased levels of oestrogens is a common cause.
6. Gout: Inflammation of joints due to accumulation of uric
acid crystals

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