From the perspective of histological descriptions, the human esophagus is divided into three sections, each of which is unique in terms of muscle type. To remember the histological “floor plan” of the esophagus, the organ’s function, including the details of how the organ carries food through the thoracic cavity, must be taken into account. Connections between its function and the functions fulfilled by the two types of muscles are also important in this regard. The human body needs the esophagus to carry the swallowed boluses of food to the stomach from the pharynx while also protecting the airways from gastric contents (Su et al., 2020). Performing this function safely and easily might require a combination of consciously controlled and involuntary muscular movements made possible by two different types of muscles. One distinctive feature of skeletal muscles is that they promote the body’s voluntary movement, thus enabling a person to stay in control of physical processes. On the contrary, smooth muscles create involuntary movement and are stimulated by autonomic reflexes.
Considering these differences, the two types of muscles work together and enable a person to initiate a digestive process that then becomes autonomous. During eating, the act of swallowing is voluntary, which becomes possible due to the skeletal muscle tissue in the oropharynx (Su et al., 2020). Having control over the act of swallowing can have some implications for safety as well. After the voluntary act of initiating the process of digestion, the food enters the middle third of the esophagus, which is also referred to as the transition zone. The amplitude of the peristaltic contraction diminishes in this part of the organ (Su et al., 2020). In the lower third of the esophagus, the peristaltic contraction intensifies again, thus facilitating the food’s delivery into the stomach (Su et al., 2020). Therefore, to memorize the organ’s histological structure, it is possible to keep in mind that digestion starts as a voluntary process (skeletal muscle) and then gradually transitions (skeletal and smooth muscle) to an autonomous process (smooth muscle).
Reference
Su, A., Parker, C. H., & Conklin, J. L. (2020). Esophageal anatomy and physiology. In S. Rao, Y.Y. Lee & U. C. Goshal (Eds.), Clinical and basic neurogastroenterology and motility (pp. 79-88). Academic Press.