What does the term striated typically refer to in medical terms?

The term "striated" in medical terminology specifically refers to muscle tissue that displays a pattern of alternating light and dark bands, which appear as stripes. This is characteristic of skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle, where the arrangement of actin and myosin filaments creates the striations visible under a microscope. Striated muscles are under voluntary control in the case of skeletal muscle, while cardiac muscle functions involuntarily. Understanding this term is crucial for distinguishing between different muscle types, particularly in anatomy and pathology contexts. The other options do not accurately describe the striated muscle tissue; for instance, connected tissue pertains to support and structural functions, dense packing of cells refers to a cellular arrangement that doesn’t involve striations, and excessive fat tissue relates to adipose tissue, which does not exhibit striations.