Electrical and chemical stimulations of the pontine micturition center.

In an acute decerebrate cat, electrical stimulation of the pontine micturition center (PMC) resulted in micturition. Carbachol injection into the PMC also resulted in micturition. The pattern of changes in bladder pressure and the sphincter activity observed during carbachol-induced micturition was almost identical to that observed during reflex micturition. The injection site corresponded to the nucleus locus coeruleus alpha (LC alpha). These results suggest that activation of cholinoceptive neurons in the LC alpha presumably becomes a trigger to recruit any one of a number of neuronal circuits involved in micturition.