The ontogeny of hippocampal energy metabolism.

The postnatal functional development of the hippocampus has been studied with the use of the 2-deoxyglucose method. Metabolic changes occurred along three different axes with increasing age. High metabolic activity appeared first in the pyramidal cell layer and shifted to the molecular layer. Activity in the regio inferior preceded the regio superior at posterior and ventral levels. All of these changes occurred first in the dorsal hippocampus and progressed along the septal-temporal axis. The data suggest that maturational changes occur at different hippocampal regions and that critical periods in development may ultimately be specified with respect to different regions in the same structure.