title: Tomographic mapping of human cerebral metabolism visual stimulation and deprivation.
abstract: Positron computed tomography was used to investigate changes in the local cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (LCMRGlc) of the visual cortex. Progressive increases in LCMRGlc were found from eyes-closed control to stimulation with white light, alternating black/white checkerboard pattern, and a complex visual scene of a park, with the associative visual cortex increasing at a faster rate than the primary visual cortex as the visual scene complexity increased. A graded decrease in LCMRGlc of the visual cortex was found with a stepwise deletion of spontaneous cell firing at the retinal, geniculate and cortical level due to lesions. Left/right metabolic symmetry of the visual cortex during monocular stimulation confirms 50% crossing of the human visual system. Neonatal blindness showed no apparent degeneration of the visual cortex and was equivalent to eyes-closed controls. The interictal state of a patient with visual seizures demonstrated a hypometabolic visual cortex with a 2.5-fold increase in metabolism during an ictal visual hallucination.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006423:Hemianopsia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose