Autonomic Control

This research focusses on discovery of mechanisms underlying the control of peripheral organs such as urinary bladder, sphincter and lower urinary tract as well as anorectum and anal sphincter.  Anatomical and functional imaging of both spinal and cerebral nodes and pathways involved in reflexes that control storage and evacuation of bodily excreta play a crucial role in unravelling:

• The mechanisms that cause dysfunction of these reflexes.
• The targets that can be influenced by cognitive, pharmacologial and electrical modulation.
• Therapy effect localisation, monitoring and quantification.

Unique contributions and highlights

Using the unique 7T fMRI the brain areas involved in bladder filling sensation can be identified in much more detail then before. This is done during bladder filling and with instantaneous pressure measurements so that motor effects and sensation can be studied simultaneously. These data can be linked re-translationally to tracing and specific brain target studies in rodents. 

In another project spinal pathways are being studied both ex vivo on the 9.4T fMRI and in vivo on the 7T. This may reveal new targets for mechanistic, diagnostic and treatment effect studies. In addition to the studies mentioned above similar studies are being done on identification of brain areas involved in anorectal function and dysfunction. These multidisciplinary studies may lead to specific imaging biomarkers for diagnostic use and elucidation of therapy mechanisms.