Neurophysiology of the lower urinary tract

Abstract

The lower urinary tract (LUT) has two functions: (1) the storage of waste products in the form of urine and (2) the elimination of those wastes through micturition. The LUT operates in a simple "on-off" fashion, either storing urine or releasing it during voiding. While this activity may seem simple, micturition is controlled by a complex set of peripheral neurons that are, in turn, coordinated by cell groups in the spinal cord, brainstem, and brain. When this careful coordination is interrupted, the control of the bladder is lost, resulting in incontinence or retention of urine. The purpose of this chapter is to review how the neural systems coordinating the activity of the lower urinary tract form neural circuits that are responsible for either maintaining continence (the storage reflex) or inducing micturition (the voiding reflex). We will also discuss the brain centers that enable higher organisms to voluntarily choose the time and place for voiding. Finally, we will discuss how defects in the pathways controlling micturition can lead to urinary incontinence and which treatments may normalize LUT function. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.