Bayer Arda, Hoffman Kris, Salazar Betsy, Aazhang Behnaam, Khavari Rose
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, 6500 Main St., Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Houston Methodist Department of Urology, 6560 Fannin St., Suite 2100, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Continence (Amst). 2025 Jun;14. doi: 10.1016/j.cont.2025.101897. Epub 2025 May 7.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been the primary tool in human research for studying and advancing our understanding of neural control of the bladder. Although the current working model identifies several brain regions involved in bladder storage, there are unknowns regarding the full extent of collaboration among these regions. This study analyzes the changes in the resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) network involving regions of the brain, brainstem, and cerebellum in healthy adults with respect to conventional pairwise rsFC and four rsFC global network statistics. Healthy adult males and females (n=15), ages 22-33, were asked to consume 472-750 mL of water, empty their bladder, and enter the fMRI scanner, after which the "control" resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) scans were obtained. Participants remained in the scanner until they indicated a feeling of strong desire to void, or until 10 min had elapsed, at which point "strong desire to void" rs-fMRI scans were acquired. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was performed using 19 regions of interest (ROIs) in the brain, specifically incorporating the brainstem and cerebellum from previous studies. Statistical significance was gauged via t-tests with Bonferroni correction for multiple hypothesis testing. Our results revealed significance, p<0.05, in the rsFC network, where the average rsFC during the strong sensation state was higher than in the control state. The pontine micturition center and cerebellum were associated with this significant increase in the average degree of 19 ROIs. The contrasts in network statistics were more substantial than the contrasts in pairwise rsFC.
功能磁共振成像（fMRI）一直是人类研究中用于研究和增进我们对膀胱神经控制理解的主要工具。尽管当前的工作模型确定了几个参与膀胱储存的脑区，但这些区域之间全面协作的程度仍存在未知之处。本研究针对传统的成对静息态功能连接（rsFC）和四种rsFC全局网络统计量，分析了健康成年人中涉及大脑、脑干和小脑区域的静息态功能连接（rsFC）网络的变化。年龄在22 - 33岁之间的健康成年男性和女性（n = 15）被要求饮用472 - 750毫升水，排空膀胱，然后进入fMRI扫描仪，之后获取“对照”静息态功能磁共振成像（rs - fMRI）扫描数据。参与者留在扫描仪中，直到他们表示有强烈的排尿欲望，或者直到10分钟过去，此时获取“强烈排尿欲望”的rs - fMRI扫描数据。使用大脑中的19个感兴趣区域（ROI）进行功能连接（FC）分析，特别纳入了先前研究中的脑干和小脑。通过t检验并采用Bonferroni校正进行多重假设检验来衡量统计显著性。我们的结果显示，在rsFC网络中具有显著性（p < 0.05），其中强烈感觉状态下的平均rsFC高于对照状态。脑桥排尿中枢和小脑与19个ROI平均程度的显著增加相关。网络统计量的对比比成对rsFC的对比更显著。
