Muscle contraction. Part 2, Activation of the contractile.

London : University of London Audio-Visual Centre, 1971.

1 encoded moving image (26.20 min.) : sound, black and white.

00:26:20

University of London

Unrestricted

CC-BY-NC

Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales

In English

Presented by Professor Andrew Huxley, University College London in association with Dr LD Peachey and Dr RE Taylor. Produced by Peter Bowen. Other film sequences courtesy of Colombia Educational Films. Electron micrographs by LD Peachey. Made by University of London Audio-Visual Centre. Made for Postgraduate Medical Federation, University of London.

This video is one of around 310 titles, originally broadcast on Channel 7 of the ILEA closed-circuit television network, given to Wellcome Trust from the University of London Audio-Visual Centre shortly after it closed in the late 1980s. Although some of these programmes might now seem rather out-dated, they probably represent the largest and most diversified body of medical video produced in any British university at this time, and give a comprehensive and fascinating view of the state of medical and surgical research and practice in the 1970s and early 1980s, thus constituting a contemporary medical-historical archive of great interest. The lectures take place in a small and intimate studio setting, often face-to-face with the camera - testing the lecturers' abilities to integrate visual aids within reach. Some of the lecturers are telegenic and some are clearly uncomfortable with this medium.

Segment 1 Huxley sums up the conclusions from the first lecture and continues to discuss electrical conduction in relation to muscle fibres. Time start: 00:00:00:00 Time end: 00:04:44:13 Length: 00:04:44:13

Segment 2 Referring to a diagram, Huxley discusses an experiment on a striated muscle fibre from a frog's leg. A short film sequence is shown in which Huxley shows a twitch fibre from the skeletal muscle of a frog being stimulated. The images shown are made by a polarising microscope. Time start: 00:04:44:13 Time end: 00:09:59:14 Length: 00:05:15:01

Segment 3 Huxley shows a series of electron micrographs of frog muscle, more or less stimulated. Time start: 00:09:59:14 Time end: 00:15:06:20 Length: 00:05:12:06

Segment 4 Huxley shows further electron micrographs of experiments on frog muscle fibres and explains the processes used by other researchers in the field. Time start: 00:15:06:20 Time end: 00:19:32:20 Length: 00:04:26:00

Segment 5 Huxley concludes the lecture by talking about the particular properties of frog's muscle which make it ideal for experimentation and then by summing up the main points of the two lectures. Time start: 00:19:32:20 Time end: 00:26:20:17 Length: 00:06:47:22