Cerebral control of the lower urinary tract: how age-related changes might predispose to urge incontinence.

ABSTRACT: Loss of bladder control (urge incontinence) is common in elderly; the cause is usually unknown. Functional imaging has revealed the brain network controlling responses to bladder filling. Age-related changes in this network might predispose to urge incontinence. We sought such changes in 10 continent, healthy women aged 30-79 years who underwent fMRI while fluid (approximately 20 ml) was repeatedly infused into and withdrawn from the bladder. Data were collected in 4 measurement blocks with progressively increasing bladder volumes and were analyzed by SPM2, using the contrast infuse-withdraw to quantify response to bladder infusion. Effective connectivity was examined by physiophysiological interaction (PhPI; see interpretation in Supplementary Material), with right insula (RI) and dorsal

SUBMITTER: Griffiths DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2719686 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature