Examining Bladder Control Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

Urgency incontinence (where the bladder muscles contract suddenly, causing an immediate urge to urinate that is difficult to prevent) is commonly experienced in patients with overactive bladder. New findings have discovered that urgency incontinence may be connected to the interactions of certain regions of the brain and the bladder. Although this is a common problem, researchers still do not know how these interactions impact the process of urgency incontinence. The purpose of this study is to better understand how the brain functions, by using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) to create images of the brain during different bladder states.