The [14C]Deoxyglucose Method for Measurement of Local Cerebral Glucose Utilization

The brain is a complex, heterogeneous organ composed of many anatomical and functional components with markedly different levels of functional activity that vary independently with time and function. Other tissues are generally far more homogeneous, with most of their cells functioning similarly and synchronously in response to a common stimulus or regulatory influence. The central nervous system, however, consists of innumerable subunits, each integrated into its own set of functional pathways and networks, and subserving only one or a few of the many activities in which the nervous system participates. Understanding how the nervous system functions requires knowledge not only of the mechanisms of excitation and inhibition, but even more so of their precise localization in the nervous system and the relationships of neural subunits to specific functions.