[Study of regional cerebral glucose metabolism, in man, while awake or asleep, by positron emission tomography]

Measurements of regional cerebral glucose uptake by the 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose technique (18FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET) along with polygraph recordings were made serially during relaxed wakefulness and different stages of nocturnal sleep in two right-handed normal volunteers. During stage III-IV sleep, values declined diffusely in both hemispheric regions (-31%), thalamus (-33%), cerebellum (-33%) and brain stem (-25%). During paradoxical sleep regional values increased diffusely compared with slow wave sleep. Compared to wakefulness, regional metabolic values seemed to increase but the results were more variable from one volunteer to the other. These preliminary data indicate important regional alterations in cerebral metabolism between sleep states.