12. Brainstem nuclei of high metabolic rate
1 - Continuous vigilance even during sleep
2 - Mammillary bodies, hippocampus, inferior olives, and cerebellum
3 - Wernicke's encephalopathy
4 - Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency
5 - Brainstem damage, and terminology
6 - The brain-gut relationship
7 - Vulnerability to metabolic disruption
8 - Importance of auditory nuclei
9 - Investigation of auditory impairment
Autoradiographic techniques have revealed high blood flow and metabolic rate in
particular brainstem nuclei. These metabolically most active nuclei may serve as
switching circuits for multiplexing of sensory input tracts. These brainstem nuclei must
be continuously active and provide a kind of unconscious vigilance for the brain as a
whole. Among the brainstem nuclei of high metabolic rate, way stations in the auditory
pathway are at the top of the rank order. As a late evolutionary addition for
environmental awareness, the auditory system may have more work to do than other
multiplex neural circuits.