The Central Role of Astrocytes in Neuroenergetics

This chapter reviews astrocyte function in the maintenance metabolic homeostasis. Astrocytes play essential roles in coupling neuronal activity to energy metabolism, both through their participation in the glutamate/glutamine cycle and by providing lactate to neurons as an additional energy substrate in register with increased activity. It also appears that astrocytes participate in coupling neuronal activity to blood flow. Such findings are important not only for the understanding of fundamental aspects of brain functions, but also for the use of functional brain imaging techniques that rely on metabolic and vascular parameters to map cognitive processes.