ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly reviews the principles of nervous control of micturition, and then focuses on the peripheral mechanisms involved in the contraction and relaxation of the bladder and urethra. The normal bladder functions, storage and elimination of urine, are based on a coordinated interplay of reciprocal contraction and relaxation of the bladder and the outflow region. The nervous mechanisms for this control involve a complex pattern of efferent and afferent signaling in parasympathetic, sympathetic, and somatic nerves. The central nervous mechanisms for the regulation of micturition are not completely known. The normal micturition reflex is mediated by a spinobulbospinal pathway, passing through relay centers in the brain. The peripheral nervous mechanisms for bladder emptying and urine storage involve efferent and afferent signaling in parasympathetic, sympathetic, and somatic nerves.
