Spinal Control of Micturition

膀胱功能是由脊髓反射控制的，包括与周围肌肉相连的脊髓运动神经元和与中枢神经系统相连的中间神经元。这些脊髓神经元的活动是由大脑的高级中枢协调的。博士目前工作的目的。Collins和Erichsen的目标是在解剖学和生理学上识别和描述这些脊髓运动神经元。目前，对这些神经元，特别是脊髓中间神经元知之甚少；这种知识的缺乏是由于无法识别特定功能的脊髓中间神经元并在脊髓内建立它们的连接。最近，这些研究的研究者已经开发了电生理学和神经解剖学技术，这将使他们能够实现这一目标。在这项研究中使用多学科方法将允许对单个脊髓神经元进行更全面的检查和分析，而不是使用任何单一技术。从这些实验中获得的信息将为参与膀胱功能控制的脊髓中间神经元的位置、功能身份和突触连接提供必要的数据库。

Bladder function is controlled by spinal reflexes involving spinal motoneurons, which connect to muscles in the periphery, and interneurons, which make their connections within the central nervous system. The activity of these spinal neurons is coordinated by higher centers in the brain. The object of the present work by Drs. Collins and Erichsen is to identify and characterize these spinal motoneurons, both anatomically and physiologically. At present, little is known about these neurons, particularly the spinal interneurons; this lack of knowledge is the result of the inability to identfy function-specific spinal interneurons and to establish their connections within the spinal cord. Recently, the investigators of these studies have developed both the electrophysiological and neuroanatomical techniques which will enable them to achieve this objective. The use of a multidisciplinary approach in this research will allow a more comprehensive examination and analysis of individual spinal neurons than would be possible with any single technique. The information obtained from these experiments will provide an essential database of the locations, functional identities, and synaptic connections of spinal interneurons involved in the control of bladder function.