Mapping of functional activity in brain with ¹⁸F-fluoro-deoxyglucose

The efficacy of using the ¹⁸F-fluoro-deoxyglucose (¹⁸F-DG) for measuring regional cerebral glucose utilization in man during functional activation is demonstrated. Normal male volunteers subjected to sensory stimuli (visual, auditory, tactile) exhibited focal increases in glucose metabolism in response to the stimulus. Unilateral visual hemifield stimulation caused the contralateral striate cortex to become more active metabolically than the striate cortex ipsilateral to the stimulated hemifield. Similarly, stroking of the fingers and hand of one arm with a brush produced an increase in metabolism in the contralateral postcentral gyrus compared to the homologous ipsilateral region. The auditory stimulus, which consisted of monaural listening to either a meaningful or nonmeaningful story, caused an increase in glucose metabolism in the right temporal cortex independent of which ear was stimulated. These results demonstrat that the ¹⁸F-DG technique is capable of providing functional maps in vivo in the human brain.