Functional Study of Glucose Consumption, TCA Cycle Activity and Lactate Production in Healthy Human Brain Using Dynamic 2H MRS Imaging at 7T

The relationship of total glucose consumption, TCA cycle and glycolysis in healthy human brain under resting and activated conditions has not been well studied due to the lack of effective neuroimaging tools. The recently developed dynamic deuterium metabolic imaging method provides a long desired capability for such studies. Here, we present the first functional deuterium imaging study in human brains during hemi-field visual stimulation at 7T. Our results provide new insights into the metabolic shifting between oxidative phosphorylation and aerobic glycolysis from the rest to activated state in supporting high energy demand of evoked activity in human visual cortex.