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Contraction and Relaxation in Smooth Muscles of Lamellibranch Molluscs

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Abstract

MUSCLES such as the smooth adductors of lamellibranch molluscs maintain a state of tonic contraction with very little expenditure of energy, because normally tension persists long after stimulation has ended and the active state has decayed to zero1. As determined by the quick-release method2, the intensity of the active state at any instant is indicated by the isometric tension the muscle can re-develop at that instant. The tension present after the active state has decayed to zero may be called passive tension. (The latter can readily be distinguished from resting tension, which only appears when the muscle has been stretched beyond the length it can assume in the animal's body3.)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Research Council Biophysics Research Unit, and Wheatstone Physics Laboratory, King's College, London, W.C.2.

    J. LOWY & B. M. MILLMAN

Authors
  1. J. LOWY
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  2. B. M. MILLMAN
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LOWY, J., MILLMAN, B. Contraction and Relaxation in Smooth Muscles of Lamellibranch Molluscs. Nature 183, 1730–1731 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1831730a0

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