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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Nov 2.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2010 Nov 11;468(7321):232–243. doi: 10.1038/nature09613

Figure 1. Energy supply, usage and blood flow regulation in the brain.

Figure 1

a, ATP is generated from glycolysis and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in neurons and glia. ATP is mainly consumed (red arrows) by ion pumping in neurons, to maintain the ion gradients underlying synaptic and action potentials, following Na+ entry (blue arrows) through ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluR) and voltage-gated Na+ channels (NaV). It is also used in glia for Na+-coupled neurotransmitter uptake by excitatory amino acid transporters (EAAT) and for metabolic processing (shown for conversion of glutamate to glutamine), and on maintaining the cells’ resting potentials. b, The negative-feedback control hypothesis for vascular energy supply, in which a fall in energy level induces an increased cerebral blood flow (CBF). c, The feedforward regulation hypothesis for vascular energy supply.