Caudate-putamen and globus pallidus influences on a visceral reflex

The electrical stimulation of the rostral striatum in rats has two different influences on bladder motility. Stimulus applied to the dorsomedial caudoputamen nucleus elicited vesical contractions and increased excitability of micturition reflex. Stimulation of the ventromedial caudoputamen suppressed detrusor contractions and increased the micturition threshold. Similar inhibitory effects were found by electrical stimulation of the globus pallidus. The possible mechanisms involved and the relationship with the clinical finding of bladder dysfunction in patients with extrapyramidal disease, are discussed in view of their anatomical and functional relationships to the vesicomotor centers.