Which type of muscles is under voluntary control?

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Multiple Choice

Which type of muscles is under voluntary control?

Voluntary control means you consciously decide to move a muscle. The skeletal muscles are the ones that fit this, as they attach to bones and move the skeleton. Their contraction is initiated by motor neurons in the brain through the somatic nervous system, so you can consciously flex a muscle or hold a position. Cardiac muscle, which makes up the heart, contracts rhythmically on its own with input from pacemaker cells and the autonomic nervous system, not by conscious choice. Smooth muscle lines the walls of hollow organs and vessels and responds to autonomic signals and hormones, also outside of voluntary control. Visceral refers to these internal-organ smooth muscles, so they share the same involuntary nature.

Voluntary control means you consciously decide to move a muscle. The skeletal muscles are the ones that fit this, as they attach to bones and move the skeleton. Their contraction is initiated by motor neurons in the brain through the somatic nervous system, so you can consciously flex a muscle or hold a position. Cardiac muscle, which makes up the heart, contracts rhythmically on its own with input from pacemaker cells and the autonomic nervous system, not by conscious choice. Smooth muscle lines the walls of hollow organs and vessels and responds to autonomic signals and hormones, also outside of voluntary control. Visceral refers to these internal-organ smooth muscles, so they share the same involuntary nature.

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