Intercalated discs are microscopic identifying features of
cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle consists of individual heart muscle cells (
cardiomyocytes) connected by intercalated discs to work as a single functional organ or
syncytium. By contrast, skeletal muscle consists of multinucleated muscle fibers and exhibit no intercalated discs. Intercalated discs support synchronised contraction of cardiac tissue. They occur at the Z line of the
sarcomere and can be visualized easily when observing a longitudinal section of the tissue.