Effect of electroanesthesia on local cerebral glucose utilization in the cat

An autoradiographic method using tracer amounts of [14C]2-deoxy-D-glucose was used to detect areas of the brain in which glucose consumption was altered under extracranial electroanesthesia, as compared with ether-anesthetized cats. All brain structures studied exhibited higher glucose consumption rates than the homologous controls, by amounts varying from 14 to 174%. In 20 out of 31 structures, the increase was statistically significant. Brain structures were heterogeneous regarding the magnitude of their glucose metabolism and could be scaled accordingly; EA changed the scaling hierarchy. The periaqueductal gray (ventral part) and the red nucleus changed from moderately to highly active structures, and the cerebellar cortex became the most active of all.