Question

Immediately following the arrival of the stimulus at a skeletal muscle cell there is a short period called the ________ period during which the events of excitation-contraction coupling occur.

1) contraction
2) relaxation
3) latent
4) refractory

Answer 1

The correct answer is 3) latent period. The latent period is the short period immediately following the arrival of a stimulus at a skeletal muscle cell, during which the events of excitation-contraction coupling occur.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer is 3) latent period.

The latent period is the short period immediately following the arrival of a stimulus at a skeletal muscle cell. During this period, the events of excitation-contraction coupling occur. Excitation-contraction coupling is the process by which a muscle fiber is excited, or stimulated, to contract. In this process, the action potential, which is a wave of electrical activity, sweeps along the sarcolemma (membrane of the muscle fiber) and is coupled to the actual contraction through the release of calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum.