A brain signal that coordinates thought with metabolism

Hallschmid, Manfred; Born, Jan

doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02122-4

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11 August 2021

A brain signal that coordinates thought with metabolism

In a brain structure called the hippocampus, sharp wave-ripples — oscillatory hallmarks of an ‘offline’ mode of cognitive processing — have been found to predict dips in glucose concentrations in the body.

Manfred Hallschmid⁰ &
Jan Born¹

Manfred Hallschmid
1. Manfred Hallschmid is in the Department of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Tübingen; and the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen (IDM), Tübingen, Germany.
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Jan Born
1. Jan Born is in the Department of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Tübingen; and the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen (IDM), Tübingen, Germany.
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To regulate adaptive behaviour, the brain relies on a continuous flow of cognitive and memory-related processes that require a constant energy supply. Weighing around 1,200 grams in women and 1,300 grams in men, on average, the brain consumes around 90 grams, or 340 kilocalories’ worth, of glucose per day, accounting for around half of the body’s glucose demand¹^,². The tight integration of metabolic and cognition-related signals might aid the matching of the brain’s energy supply to its energy needs, by optimizing foraging behaviour and efforts to limit energy expenditure. The synchronization of glucose supply with brain activity has so far been considered a function of a structure called the hypothalamus, at the base of the brain. Writing in Nature, Tingley et al.³ provide evidence in rats for the role of another brain region, called the hippocampus, which is typically implicated in memory and navigation, in this equation (Fig. 1).

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Nature 597, 39-40 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02122-4

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