Suppression of Urinary Voiding "on Demand" by High-Frequency Stimulation of the S1 Sacral Nerve Root in Anesthetized Rats.

Objectives: High-frequency (kHz) stimulation of preganglionic pelvic nerve afferents can inhibit voiding in both anesthetized and conscious rats. The afferents travel via the S1 sacral nerve root, which is easier to access than the distal pelvic nerve fibers within the abdominal cavity. We therefore investigated whether voiding could be inhibited by high-frequency stimulation at S1 and how this compared to distal pelvic nerve stimulation.

Suppression of Urinary Voiding by Conditional High Frequency Stimulation of the Pelvic Nerve in Conscious Rats.

Female Wistar rats were instrumented to record bladder pressure and to stimulate the left pelvic nerve. Repeated voids were induced by continuous infusion of saline into the bladder (11.2 ml/h) via a T-piece in the line to the bladder catheter.

High Frequency Stimulation of the Pelvic Nerve Inhibits Urinary Voiding in Anesthetized Rats.

Urge Urinary Incontinence: "a sudden and uncontrollable desire to void which is impossible to defer" is extremely common and considered the most bothersome of lower urinary tract conditions. Current treatments rely on pharmacological, neuromodulatory, and neurotoxicological approaches to manage the disorder, by reducing the excitability of the bladder muscle. However, some patients remain refractory to treatment.

The Periaqueductal Gray Orchestrates Sensory and Motor Circuits at Multiple Levels of the Neuraxis.

Unlabelled: The periaqueductal gray (PAG) coordinates behaviors essential to survival, including striking changes in movement and posture (e.g., escape behaviors in response to noxious stimuli vs freezing in response to fear-evoking stimuli).

Beyond Gene Inactivation: Evolution of Tools for Analysis of Serotonergic Circuitry.

In the brain, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) controls a multitude of physiological and behavioral functions. Serotonergic neurons in the raphe nuclei give rise to a complex and extensive network of axonal projections throughout the whole brain. A major challenge in the analysis of these circuits is to understand how the serotonergic networks are linked to the numerous functions of this neurotransmitter.

Neural substrates underlying fear-evoked freezing: the periaqueductal grey-cerebellar link.

The central neural pathways involved in fear-evoked behaviour are highly conserved across mammalian species, and there is a consensus that understanding them is a fundamental step towards developing effective treatments for emotional disorders in man. The ventrolateral periaqueductal grey (vlPAG) has a well-established role in fear-evoked freezing behaviour. The neural pathways underlying autonomic and sensory consequences of vlPAG activation in fearful situations are well understood, but much less is known about the pathways that link vlPAG activity to distinct fear-evoked motor patterns essential for survival.