What is an Involuntary Muscle Cell?

Question

I can't find any web sites with information on Involuntary Muscle Cells. If you know anything about them or know any websites with information about them, I would really appreciate you telling me. Diagrams also appreciated.

Thanks

Answer 1

Cardiac and smooth muscle.  Cardiac is only found in the heart, smooth is in the intestinal tract, etc.  These muscle are controlled exclusively by you CNS, i.e. you cannot control them at will.

Do a search on these individual types of muscle cells, as they are very different.  Cardiac is similar to striated, but very different to smooth.

Striated muscle is the other type, which is voluntary (these are the muscle that move your arms, etc.)

Answer 2

An involuntary muscle is a muscle which we have no conscious control over, such as muscle cells of the heart, pupil of the eye, those which line the GI tract or blood vessels, or those which cause the uterus to contract during menstruation or labor.  They are controlled  by the autonomic nervous system.