Academic Press Neuro-Urology Research: A Comprehensive Overview

Neuro-Urology Research: A Comprehensive Overview describes the current status of the neuro-urology field, discusses potential future directions and explains the latest neuroscience tools that can be used in neuro-urology research. The first section provides an overview of the circuit-based interrogation of subcortical and spinal networks involved in bladder filling and voiding. The second section discusses the translational potential of research for patients including specific chapters on the sensation of bladder stretch, bladder pain, the effects of hormones and the potential results of neurodegeneration on bladder function. The third section compares traditional and current studies determining the need for addressing or readdressing principles or adjusting dogma. Section four introduces techniques including optogenetic manipulation and calcium imaging of neural activity, and on how these methods can be applied to neuro-urology research. The fifth and final section proposes studies in directions that have remained underexplored or otherwise controversial. Perfect for all currently researching neuro-urology, this detailed understanding of the cellular and synaptic circuits that control bladder filling and voiding and of the circuitry regulating bladder function, has the potential to inform the development of newer therapeutics for treating LUTS. Review Comprehensive, understandable overview of description of the neuroscience underlying the neuro-regulation of the bladder From the Back Cover <i>Neuro-Urology Research: A Comprehensive Overview</i> describes the current status of the neuro-urology field, discusses potential future directions and explains the latest neuroscience tools that can be used in neuro-urology research. The first section provides an overview of the circuit-based interrogation of subcortical and spinal networks involved in bladder filling and voiding. The second section discusses the translational potential of research for patients including specific chapters on the sensation of bladder stretch, bladder pain, the effects of hormones and the potential results of neurodegeneration on bladder function. The third section compares traditional and current studies determining the need for addressing or readdressing principles or adjusting dogma. Section four introduces techniques including optogenetic manipulation and calcium imaging of neural activity, and on how these methods can be applied to neuro-urology research. The fifth and final section proposes studies in directions that have remained underexplored or otherwise controversial. Perfect for all currently researching neuro-urology, this detailed understanding of the cellular and synaptic circuits that control bladder filling and voiding and of the circuitry regulating bladder function, has the potential to inform the development of newer therapeutics for treating LUTS. About the Author Dr. Verstegen has a broad background in research and with specific training in key areas of molecular and cellular biology, behavioral and systems neuroscience, and with expertise in stereotaxic surgery techniques, design and execution of experimental paradigms coupled with optogenetics, and mouse genetics. She graduated in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience at Utrecht University (NL) and obtained a Ph.D. degree at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). Her current research projects aim to identify the neural networks that control urine storage and voiding. Because disturbances in the brain control of the bladder and sphincter can cause or contribute to LUTS, understanding these control circuits may lead to potential therapies. Besides unraveling and mapping the neural circuitry, she is interested in understanding which neuro-regulators are involved and in associating function with distinct neuron subpopulations in aspects of bladder control.