Differentiate nerve response from muscle response to electrical stimulation?

Question

Differentiate nerve response from muscle response to electrical stimulation?

Answer 1

The best way to think about it is if you were to put your hand on a hot stove accidentally.

For the nervous response, it would happen automatically. For the muscle response, it could be identical in movement, but would require thought.

These travel on two different systems.

Do a search on autonomic nervous system and hopefully that will clarify it for you. These pathways are faster than motor neuron pathways.

Answer 2

Nerves and muscles both initiate their activity based on depolarisation. That is to say that the inside of the nerve/muscle cell is negative whilst the outside is positive, most cells maintain  an electro-gradient of -55mV. In general when depolarisation occurs Na+ channels open and Na+ moves into the cell because of the principle known as the gradient potential. Electrically stimulating a cell causes this to happen artificially; a  somatic skeletal muscle is stimulated by the brain utilising the corticospinal nerve tract which synapses on motor nerves that then travel to the neuro-muscular junction. At the neuromuscular juction AcH (a neurotransmitter) is released and binds with nicotinic receptors, these receptors are on Na channels which are thus opened. The opening of these causes a chain of depolarisation which initiates a complicated chain of events resulting in Ca++ being released from intra-cellular stores. The release of Ca++ binds with troponin and allows actin and myosin to bind, the process then utilizes ATP to allowing continuing contraction. This is known as the micro-filament theory of muscle contraction. Artificial stimulation of a nerve would cause depolarisation, as to the effect, it would depend on where the nerve was going; we have efferent, afferent, somatic, visceral, voluntary and autonomic systems. Not to say that these cannot occur within each other. An artificial stimulation to an afferent fibre eg a C pain fibre would cause; (speaking generally and disregarding 'accessory' tracts and interneurons) C fibre > Dorsal horn > Spinothalamic tract > thalamus > Somatic sensory area of cortex (post-central gyrus/ BA 3,1,2) = pain perception... that is an example, there are many different tracts to allow the brain to do everything we do. Within the brain there are many interneuron connections and associated areas that I would not attempt to discuss at a level needed to generate a coherant answer.

Edit: the guy in the 2nd answer is talking about the spinal reflex circuit, not the autonomic nervous system as he claims. The reason why we have reflexes to pain is due to interneurons in the spine so when pain sensation comes in part of the signal goes through an interneuron and then through a motor neuron to stimulate retraction of the limb. The Autonomic nervous system has the sympathetic and para-sympathetic divisions which are concerned with visceral maintenance of the body. The only automonic nerves involved in skeletal muscle reflexes are some of the para-sympathetic division, but they are not related to retracting your hand from a hot stove. oahurealestate = pwn3d