In a serendipitous discovery, UC San Diego researchers using cryo-EM technology captured the first visualizations of the 3-D structure of the muscle acetylcholine receptor in fetal and adult muscles.

The connections between the nervous system and muscles develop differently across the kingdom of life. It takes newborn humans roughly a year to develop the proper muscular systems that support the ...

WE have recently carried out some experiments on the form of the contraction given by the gastrocnemius muscle of a winter frog 1 in response to a single electrical stimulus. In certain circumstances, ...

We are at a critical time and supporting climate journalism is more important than ever. Science News and our parent organization, the Society for Science, need your help to strengthen environmental ...

IT is generally believed that the process which initiates contraction in striated muscle is the depolarization of the excitable membrane of the muscle fibre, although the mechanism by which membrane ...

Acetylcholine is a chemical messenger, or neurotransmitter, that plays an important role in brain and muscle function. Imbalances in acetylcholine are linked with chronic conditions, such as Alzheimer ...

Muscle contraction is the tightening, shortening, or lengthening of muscles when you do some activity. It can happen when you hold or pick up something, or when you stretch or exercise with weights.

After every meal, the intestines perform an action called peristalsis - moving food through their hollow interiors with coordinated contractions and relaxations of the smooth muscle. For more than a ...

Dystonia is a neurological disorder causing involuntary muscle contractions and abnormal postures. Botulinum toxin (e.g., Botox) is the gold-standard, first-line treatment for focal dystonias, which ...

Using powerful new visualization technologies, researchers have captured the first 3-D images of the structure of a key muscle receptor, providing new insights on how muscles develop across the animal ...