Local cerebral glucose utilization in newborn and pubescent monkeys during focal motor seizures

The [¹⁴C]deoxyglucose method was used to determine the rate of local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) in newborn and pubescent monkeys during focal motor seizures induced by injecting penicillin into the face-hand area of the right motro cortex. Seizures were studied in 3 newborn and 6 pubescent monkeys, and 3 newborn and 4 pubescent monkeys were used as controls. In controls, the pattern of glucose utiliztion within structures of the sensorimotor system was quite different at the two age levels; newborns showed far less activity, especially in the neocortex and striatum. In the monkeys with seizures, the unilateral increase in LCGU relative tot he controls was greater in newborn than in pubescent monkeys except in the cerebral and cereballar cortices. The increased glucose utilization in cortical and subcortical structures of the newborn was ipsilateral to the dischargin lesion and lacked the well-defined pattern seen in the pubescetn mmonkeys. In general, newborn brain was capable of supporting a focal motro seizure but lacked the precise clinical and electrographic expressions or efficient energy metabolism that accopany maturation of the brain at puberty.