The relative metabolic demand of inhibition and excitation

By using the (14C)2-deoxyglucose method, inhibition has been shown to be a metabolically active process at the level of the synapse. This is supported by recent results from magnetic resonance spectroscopy that related the changes in neuroenergetics occurring with functional activation to neurotrans...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2000-08, Vol.406 (6799), p.995-998
Main Authors: Hallett, Mark, Waldvogel, Daniel, van Gelderen, Peter, Muellbacher, Wolf, Ziemann, Ulf, Immisch, Ilka
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Deoxyglucose - metabolism
Electromagnetic Phenomena
Evoked Potentials, Motor
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Inhibition
letter
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Metabolism
Middle Aged
Motor control and motor pathways. Reflexes. Control centers of vegetative functions. Vestibular system and equilibration
Motor Cortex - metabolism
multidisciplinary
Neural Inhibition
Neurology
Oxygen - blood
Oxygenation
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spectroscopy
Synapses
Synaptic Transmission
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
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Summary:By using the (14C)2-deoxyglucose method, inhibition has been shown to be a metabolically active process at the level of the synapse. This is supported by recent results from magnetic resonance spectroscopy that related the changes in neuroenergetics occurring with functional activation to neurotransmitter cycling. However, inhibitory synapses are less numerous and strategically better located than excitatory synapses, indicating that inhibition may be more efficient, and therefore less energy-consuming, than excitation. Here we test this hypothesis using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging in volunteers whose motor cortex was inhibited during the no-go condition of a go/no-go task, as demonstrated by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Unlike excitation, inhibition evoked no measurable change in the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent signal in the motor cortex, indicating that inhibition is less metabolically demanding. Therefore, the 'activation' seen in functional imaging studies probably results from excitation rather than inhibition.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/35023171