Brain is the major consumer of glucose in the human body, whose pattern of consumption changes through lifetime, decreasing during adolescence up to adulthood. This evidence leads to the hypothesis that, in cerebral developmental stages, glycolysis might be the driving force for the high-energy requirement. Furthermore, several studies claim that neurogenesis process is accompanied by a shift into mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. Herein, we discuss recent work about cell metabolism during neuronal differentiation process, in particular the mitochondrial role in cellular bioenergy dynamics.
Keywords: Glycolysis; Mitochondria; Neurogenesis; Neuronal differentiation; Oxidative phosphorylation; Oxygen levels.