Brain, Vol. 125, No. 10, 2365-2367,
October 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
Book Review |
NEUROENERGETICS: RELEVANCE IN FUNCTIONAL BRAIN IMAGING
University Department of Clinical Neurology, The Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK
NEUROENERGETICS: RELEVANCE IN FUNCTIONAL BRAIN IMAGING
By R. S. J. Frackowiak, P. J. Magistretti, R. G. Shulman, J. S. Altman and M. Adams
2002. Strasbourg: Human Frontier Science Program Organization
ISBN 9291640107.
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Perhaps the major goal for cognitive neuroscience is to define the ways in which the activity of aggregates of neurones create phenomena of mind. Brain functional imaging is proving to be one of the most versatile tools for working towards this goal. Two of the most powerful approaches have been positron emission tomography (PET) and, more recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, both provide only indirect measures of neuronal activity. Instead, they measure local changes in brain metabolism and physiology that are associated with neuronal activity. As interest has developed in applying these methods quantitatively, it has become critically important to understand the nature of the signals being measured and thus, the specific mechanisms coupling metabolic and physiological changes to changes in neuronal activity.
This slim volume leads the reader at an almost breathless pace from classical studies through to the most recent work concerning activity-coupled brain energy metabolism.