2-Deoxyglucose uptake and histologic changes in rat thalamus after neocortical ablations.

2-Deoxy[14C]glucose (2-DG) uptake was examined in pentobarbital-anesthetized rats that 3 days to 2 years earlier had sustained large posterior neocortical ablations. At 2 weeks postoperatively 2-DG uptake was pronounced in those thalamic nuclei with cortical projection zones included in the ablated region. At shorter postoperative intervals (3 to 4 days) there appeared to be no increases in 2-DG uptake in these thalamic nuclei and at longer postoperative intervals (greater than 1 month) increases were only discernible in calcified sites. Both temporal and spatial postoperative variations in 2-DG uptake were found to coincide almost perfectly with glial cell proliferation and staining in the affected regions.