Summary: Global cerebral blood flow (CBF), global ce rebral metabolic rates for oxygen (CMR02), and for glu cose (CMRglc), and lactate efflux were measured during rest and during cerebral activation induced by the Wis consin card sorting test. Measurements were performed in healthy volunteers using the Kety-Schmidt technique. Global CMR02 was unchanged during cerebral activa tion, whereas global CBF and global CMRglc both in creased by 12%, reducing the molar ratio of oxygen to glucose consumption from 6.0 during baseline conditions to 5.4 during activation. Data obtained in the period fol lowing cerebral activation showed that the activation induced resetting of the relation between CMRglc and CMR02 persisted virtually unaltered for �40 min after the mental activation task was terminated. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Peter Lund Madsen at Department of Neurology, The National Uni versity Hospital, Rigshopitalet, 9, Blegdamvej, DK-2100 Copen hagen, Denmark.Abbreviations used: CMR1ac, cerebral lactate efflux; LCI, lac tate/glucose index.
485tion-induced increase in cerebral lactate efflux measured over the same time period accounted for only a small fraction of the activation-induced excess glucose uptake. These data confirm earlier reports that brain activation can induce resetting of the cerebral oxygen/glucose con sumption ratio, and indicate that the resetting persists for a long period after cerebral activation has been termi nated and physiologic stress indicators returned to base line values. Activation-induced resetting of the cerebral oxygen/glucose uptake ratio is not necessarily accounted for by increased lactate production from nonoxidative glucose metabolism. Key Words: Cerebral metabolism Cerebral lactate efflux-Cerebral blood flow-Cerebral activation-U ncoupling.from CMR02 observed during activation could be due to errors with the PET models employed to measure CMR02 (Sokoloff, 1992). Moreover, it is surprising that nonoxidative glucose metabolism should be the major energy source for cerebral ac tivation, given the low yield of ATP from this path way compared with that from the oxidative path way. The initial aim of this study was to address this controversy employing the Kety-Schmidt tech nique, which is independent of the assumptions on which the PET models for measurements of