Neurophysiological and neurochemical basis of brain imaging

Physiology of functional MRI (fMRI) is probed by relationship between neuronal “work” and “energy”. To do quantitative neuroimaging with fMRI, Fahmeed Hyder and colleagues are exploring the relationship between cerebral “energy” and neuronal “work”. A wide range of energy consuming processes, which include membrane potential changes and neurotransmitter recycling, are involved in short term neuronal information encoding, and majority of the ATP utilized to support the cellular work is yielded from oxidizing glucose.