These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Ratio of central nervous system to body metabolism in vertebrates: its constancy and functional basis.
    Author: Mink JW, Blumenschine RJ, Adams DB.
    Journal: Am J Physiol; 1981 Sep; 241(3):R203-12. PubMed ID: 7282965.
    Abstract:
    We present and document an hypothesis that healthy adults of most vertebrate species use 2-8% of their basal metabolism for the central nervous system (CNS). This relationship is constant across all classes of vertebrates, as we found by examining data from 42 species, including 3 fish, 3 amphibia, 2 reptiles, 6 birds, and 28 mammals. To explain its constancy, we hypothesize that an optimal functional relationship between the energy requirements of an animal's executor system (muscle metabolism) and its control system (CNS metabolism) was established early in vertebrate evolution. Three types of exceptional cases are discussed in terms of the hypothesis: very large animals, domesticated animals, and primates.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]