Brain aerobic glycolysis and motor adaptation learning

Significance A substantial fraction of glucose used by the brain does not enter the oxidative phosphorylation pathway despite the presence of adequate oxygen, a phenomenon known as aerobic glycolysis. Among its several functions, aerobic glycolysis makes substantial contributions to biosynthesis, thus becoming a marker of synaptic plasticity. Combining PET and MRI brain-imaging techniques, we characterized the role of aerobic glycolysis in plasticity during the performance of a motor adaptation learning task. Our findings support a link between aerobic glycolysis and learning as well as providing unexpected evidence of a potential role of microglia in long-term depression and synaptic pruning.