Development of the Central Nervous System Practice Test

Somatic motor neurons are responsible for voluntary movement by directly innervating skeletal muscle throughout the body. They form a one-neuron connection from the neuron to the muscle fiber at the neuromuscular junction, releasing acetylcholine to trigger muscle contraction. This means they control the skeletal muscles of the body wall and extremities, the striped muscles you consciously move.

In contrast, smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands are targets of autonomic motor neurons, which regulate involuntary functions and typically involve a two-neuron pathway that disperses signals to those tissues.