Micturition reflexes in man.

Integral storage and voiding reflexes. Neurophysiologic concept of continence and micturition.

It is a common clinical misconception to regard the spinal micturition reflex center as fundamentally overactive and dependent on cerebral inhibition. Initiation and cessation of micturition is simplistically viewed as a manifestation of voluntary withdrawal and resumption of inhibitory corticospinal "regulation''. This view is in conflict with basic neurophysiologic experimental data. Actually...

Reduction of perineal evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials in cat lumbar and sacral motoneurons during micturition.

These experiments were undertaken to examine whether both premotoneuronal mechanisms and direct actions on motoneurons could contribute to suppression of excitatory perineal reflex pathways during micturition. Intracellular recordings were obtained from motoneurons innervating the external urethral sphincter (EUS), external anal sphincter (EAS), and selected hindlimb muscles in decerebrate male...

Incidence of normal micturition in myelomeningocele patients.

Among 108 consecutive patients with myelomeningocele aged 5-12 years initially treated by a selective policy, seven (6.5%) achieved spontaneous urinary continence, five with normal micturition and two with urgency. All had positive conus reflexes and incomplete cord lesions which, with one exception, comprised motor as well as sensory sacral sparing.

Micturition-related neuronal firing in the periaqueductal gray area in cats.

The midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) is the area promoting emotional motor responses, reproductive behaviors and analgesia. Recent studies suggest that neurons in the PAG may be crucial for regulating the micturition reflex in both experimental animals and humans. We examined single neuronal activities in the PAG and the adjacent area in response to isovolumetric spontaneous micturition refle...

Editorial Focus: Spinal Interneurons and Micturition Reflexes: Focus on “Characterization of a Spinal-Urine Storage Reflex- Inhibitory Center (SUSRIC) and its Regulation by Serotonin 5-HT1A Receptors in Female Cats”