A study in man of cerebral blood flow and cerebral glucose, lactate and pyruvate metabolism before and after eating.

It has been shown that subjective feelings of hunger (1) and even objective phenomena such as gastric hunger contractions (2) can be correlated with a decreased arteriovenous glucose difference across the forearm. This decrease in arteriovenous difference of glucose was thought to indicate a decreased rate of glucose utilization by peripheral tissues and its role in hunger regulation has recently been reviewed by Mayer (3, 4). Since the brain is particularly dependent on glucose for metabolism it would be of interest to determine its response to the fasting state and the ingestion of a test meal. If, in the fasting state, such decreased utilization of glucose occurs in the brain as does peripherally, it would be of interest to know what other carbohydrate substances are utilized and particularly whether or not variation in the amount of glucose taken up by the cerebral tissue is related to the sensation of hunger.