why are there three directions of smooth muscle in the stomach
This shows an image through the wall of the body of the stomach at low power. You should be able to identify the three major layers seen here - the mucosa, submucosa and muscularis externa. The mucosa is full of gastric glands and pits, and there is a prominent layer of smooth muscle - the muscularis mucosa. The contraction of this muscle helps to expel the contents of the gastric glands. The muscularis externa layer has three layers of muscle.