Fig. 1.

Many factors play a role in determining a neuron’s bioenergetic capacity. Through glycolysis, glucose is converted into pyruvate within the cytoplasm of the cell. In the presence of oxygen, this pyruvate is transported into the mitochondria and converted into acetyl-CoA to enter the Krebs cycle for further generation of NADH and FADH. The gradient formed by electron transfer from these reduced donors to oxygen leads to the production of ATP in the presence of ADP and phosphate via ATP synthase. When oxygen becomes limiting, anaerobic respiration can augment energetic capacity by converting pyruvate into lactate resulting in ATP production, albeit to a lesser extent than via aerobic respiration.