The energetic costs of signaling as a proxy of cognition in health and disease

COEX 

During evolution, the human brain has continuously expanded and increased its energy demands relative to the body (1). The most expanded brain areas have been associated with higher cognitive functions in humans (2), increasing considerably the energy demands related to neural processing (3). Patients with mental disorders often exhibit impaired cognitive functions (4). We hypothesized that the distribution of energy metabolism along signaling pathways could reveal mechanisms of higher cognitive processing in the human brain and its deviation in disease.