German and Dutch scientists first discovered an alternate power source for the brain. Because previously it was thought that the brain runs exclusively on glucose. Using spectral analysis, scientists have discovered that the brain receives from the incoming blood not only glucose but also lactate — lactic acid, the increase in the content which is observed when the mismatch of oxygen into tissue and energy costs, that is, when active muscular work. Thus, the energy “waste” is supplied by the muscles, are used by brain as energy.
The study, neuroscientists showed that the brain, like muscles, in a situation when the body is working at the limit of their capabilities and the level of sugar in the blood decreases to a critical value, starts to feed on the lactate, not glucose. This discovery explained why the brain is able to work at the same level, even when other tissues and organs begin to consume several times more glucose and oxygen than usual. The brain is just another mechanism to maintain their own life in the conditions when working muscles need glucose.
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