The cell membrane of a muscle cell is called the sarcolemma, and this membrane, like that of neurons, maintains a membrane potential. So, impulses travel along muscle cell membranes just as they do along nerve cell membranes. However, the 'function' of impulses in muscle cells is to bring about contraction.undreds or thousands of muscle fibers (cells) bundle together to make up an individual skeletal muscle. Muscle cells are long, cylindrical structures that are bound by a plasma membrane (the sarcolemma) and an overlying basal lamina and when grouped into bundles (fascicles) they make up muscle.