| plantar muscle | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, lateral supracondylar ridge; insertion, medial margin of tendo achillis and deep fascia of ankle; action, traditionally described as plantar flexion of foot; many investigators now believe the plantaris muscle to be primarily a proprioceptive organ; nerve supply, tibial nerve. Synonym: musculus plantaris, musculus tibialis gracilis, plantar muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| plantar muscle reflex | Flicking the tops of the toes from the plantar surface causes flexion of the toes; a stretch reflex of the flexors of the toes seen in lesions of the pyramidal tracts. See: Starling's reflex. Synonym: plantar muscle reflex, Rossolimo's sign. (05 Mar 2000) |
| plantar quadrate muscle | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, by two heads from the lateral and medial borders of the inferior surface of the calcaneus; insertion, tendons of flexor digitorum longus; action, assists long flexor; nerve supply, lateral plantar. Synonym: musculus flexor accessorius, musculus quadratus plantae, accessory flexor muscle of foot, caro quadrata sylvii, musculus pronator pedis, plantar quadrate muscle, quadrate muscle of sole. (05 Mar 2000) |
| plantar tendon sheath of peroneus longus muscle | <anatomy> The synovial sheath surrounding the tendon of the peroneus longus in its course across the sole of the foot. Synonym: vagina tendinis musculi peronei longi plantaris. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Wilson's muscle | Origin, ramus of pubis; insertion, with fellow in median raphe behind and in front of urethra; action, constricts membranous urethra; nerve supply, pudendal. Synonym: musculus sphincter urethrae, external urethral sphincter, Guthrie's muscle, musculus compressor urethrae, musculus constrictor urethrae, musculus sphincter urethrae membranaceae, sphincter muscle of urethra, Wilson's muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| compressor muscle of lips | <anatomy> The "sucking muscle," a labial muscle formed by sagittal fibres running from the skin to the mucous membrane. Synonym: Aeby's muscle, Bovero's muscle, compressor muscle of lips, Klein's muscle, Krause's muscle, mucocutaneous muscle, musculus cutaneomucosus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mucocutaneous muscle | <anatomy> The "sucking muscle," a labial muscle formed by sagittal fibres running from the skin to the mucous membrane. Synonym: Aeby's muscle, Bovero's muscle, compressor muscle of lips, Klein's muscle, Krause's muscle, mucocutaneous muscle, musculus cutaneomucosus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Muller's muscle | <anatomy> A rudimentary nonstriated muscle, crossing the infraorbital groove and sphenomaxillary fissure, intimately united with the periosteum of the orbit. Synonym: musculus orbitalis, Muller's muscle, orbital muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pleuroesophageal muscle | <anatomy> Muscular fasciculi, arising from the mediastinal pleura, which reinforce musculature of oesophagus. Synonym: musculus pleuroesophageus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multipennate muscle | <anatomy> A muscle with several central tendons toward which the muscle fibres converge like the barbs of feathers. Synonym: musculus multipennatus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| wrinkler muscle of eyebrow | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, from orbital portion of musculus orbicularis oculi and nasal prominence; insertion, skin of eyebrow; action, draws medial end of eyebrow downward and wrinkles forehead vertically; nerve supply, facial. Synonym: musculus corrugator supercilii, Coiter's muscle, corrugator muscle, wrinkler muscle of eyebrow. (05 Mar 2000) |
| muscle | <anatomy> Tissue specialised for contraction. See twitch muscle, catch muscle: Cardiac muscle (heart muscle) is a striated but involuntary muscle responsible for the pumping activity of the vertebrate heart. The individual muscle cells are joined through a junctional complex known as the intercalated disc and are not fused together into multinucleate structures as they are in skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle is a rather non-specific term usually applied to the striated muscle of vertebrates that is under voluntary control. The muscle fibres are syncytial and contain myofibrils, tandem arrays of sarcomeres. Smooth muscle is muscle tissue in vertebrates made up from long tapering cells that may be anything from 20-500m long. Smooth muscle is generally involuntary and differs from striated muscle in the much higher actin/myosin ratio, the absence of conspicuous sarcomeres and the ability to contract to a much smaller fraction of its resting length. Smooth muscle cells are found particularly in blood vessel walls, surrounding the intestine (especially the gizzard in birds) and in the uterus. The contractile system and its control resemble those of motile tissue cells (for example fibroblasts, leucocytes) and antibodies against smooth muscle myosin will cross react with myosin from tissue cells, whereas antibodies against skeletal muscle myosin will not. See: dense bodies. (18 Nov 1997) |
| muscle, adductor | Any muscle that pulls inward toward the midline of the body. For example, the adductor muscles of the leg serve to pull the legs together. The opposite of adductor is abductor. To keep these similar sounding terms straight, medical students learn to speak of a b ductors versus a d ductors. (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle biopsy | <investigation, procedure, surgery> A procedure which involves the removal of a small specimen of muscle tissue for microscopic analysis. A muscle biopsy is used to distinguish between neurological and myopathic (muscle disease) disorders, identify muscular dystrophy, diagnose muscle infections and identify connective tissue disorders (necrotising vasculitis). (21 Mar 1998) |
| muscle-bound | Denoting a condition in which individual muscles are overdeveloped but dyssynergic in concerted action. (05 Mar 2000) |