Global cerebral glucose utilization is independent of brain size: a PET Study

Cerebral glucose metabolic rates were measured in 80 normal volunteers by studying the uptake of [18F]deoxyglucose with positron emission tomography (PET), using three PET scanners. A brain size index was determined from the PET images using either length-width or area measurements of the brain at a standard level. There was a significant negative correlation between glucose metabolism per unit volume and brain size that was well described by an inverse functional relationship, implying that the total glucose consumption of the brain is approximately constant. Analyses of men versus women revealed no sex differences in total brain glucose consumption, although there were differences in brain size and in glucose metabolism per unit volume. Similarly there was no significant correlation of total brain glucose consumption with age. The variation with brain size accounted for 46% of the logarithmic intersubject metabolic variance. When comparing global metabolic rates in different subjects, multiplying the rates by a brain size index has the dual advantage of correcting for differences related to brain size and correcting for differences in cerebrospinal fluid volume.