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Related terms:
muscle cramp
hypertonia
hypotonia
muscle atrophy
spasm
tetany
muscle weakness
myokymia
Sign or Symptom
fasciculation Audio
fas·cic·u·la·tion [ fuh-sik-yuh-ley-shuhn ]
Subclass of:
Neuromuscular Manifestations
Definitions related to muscular fasciculation:
  • (fasciculation) Involuntary contraction of the muscle fibers innervated by a motor unit. Fasciculations may be visualized as a muscle twitch or dimpling under the skin, but usually do not generate sufficient force to move a limb. They may represent a benign condition or occur as a manifestation of MOTOR NEURON DISEASE or PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DISEASES. (Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p1294)
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
  • (fasciculation) The involuntary trembling of one or more muscles.
    NCI
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • (fasciculations) Fasciculations are observed as small, local, involuntary muscle contractions (twitching) visible under the skin. Fasciculations result from increased irritability of an axon (which in turn is often a manifestation of disease of a motor neuron). This leads to sporadic discharges of all the muscle fibers controlled by the axon in isolation from other motor units.
    Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO)
    The Human Phenotype Ontology Project, 2025
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This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.

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