Macroscopic cerebral energy efficiency corresponds to neuron reorganization in awake and anesthetized mice.

INTRODUCTION

Non-invasive imaging of brain function and energy supply is crucial for diagnosing and treating brain disorders. Conventional imaging struggles to capture altered relationships between energy supply and demand caused by brain diseases. A novel method, thus far only tested non-invasively in human subjects, is to calculate relative power (rPWR) and relative cost (rCST) to assess cerebral energy efficiency. However, whether rPWR/rCST tracks individual changes and relate to neural activity remains unproven.

METHODS

Our study examines awake and anesthetized male mice and compares rPWR/rCST with invasive two-photon microscopy.

RESULTS

We found that rPWR/rCST distributions were similar between awake mice and humans, but changed in anesthetized mice, indicating a shift in the brain's economic balance. Furthermore, changes in rPWR/rCST were linked to the reorganization of microscopic neural networks, observed with two-photon microscopy.

DISCUSSION: Our work highlights the potential of rPWR/rCST for medical applications, and that neural network reorganization is linked to the brain's economic balance.