Brain sugar use aligns more with structure in older adults
Similarities in sugar-use patterns and brain structure had a correlation of 0.32 across regions, with stronger alignment at older ages.
67 healthy adults
Limit: Changes within individuals were not measured; the age comparison involved different people
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational study, researchers scanned 67 healthy adults aged 38–86, including 35 women, to compare brain glucose-use patterns with the structure of the cortex, the brain’s outer layer. A technical failure left 66 participants in the final analysis.
Positron emission tomography scans tracked uptake of a radioactive sugar-like tracer. Magnetic resonance imaging measured structural features. The researchers compared how similarly pairs of brain regions took up the tracer with how closely those regions resembled each other structurally. These patterns were positively associated, even after accounting for distances between regions. Their alignment was stronger in older adults after accounting for sex and the volume inside the skull.
Why it matters
The coordination between brain metabolism and structure bears on how brain energy use changes with age. The authors interpreted the pattern as consistent with reduced flexibility in energy use in the aging brain.
Caveats
This cross-sectional study compared people of different ages rather than tracking changes within individuals. Reduced flexibility in energy use was the authors’ interpretation, not a measured outcome.
The paper
University of Padua
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Jun 4, 2026, Open access
