BLADDER WALL TENSION AND MECHANORECEPTOR DISCHARGE

Bladder wall mechanoreceptors are essential elements in micturition an d continence reflexes. While they have been described as tension recep tors, their response to bladder wall deformation has always been chara cterised in terms of pressure. The firing patterns of 10 bladder wall mechanoreceptors were determined during bladder distensions at a natur al and a much faster rate. In all units firing rate was higher at any given pressure at the slower bladder distension rate. This inverse rat e dependence was reduced when firing rate was related to a derived mea sure of bladder wall tension and abolished when multi-fibre recordings were used. We conclude that it is important to incorporate volume eff ects in studies of continence control systems.