Local CMRglu (LCMRglu) values were measured by [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiography in the rat at 4 h and 5 days following photochemically induced cortical infarction, and these data were compared with neuropathological findings in adjacent serial sections. At both time periods, LCMRglu was markedly reduced within the lesion center, and irregular regions of moderate-to-marked glucose hypermetabolism were noted within the marginal zone of the developing infarct. At 4 h, the hypermetabolic zones were shown by pathological examination to be characterized by normal-sized, moderately hyperchromatic neurons scattered among occasional dark, shrunken neurons within preserved neuropil. In contrast, the hypermetabolic zones at 5 days coincided with foci of intense macrophage infiltration, with dissolution of the neuropil. Significant decreases in glucose utilization were also demonstrated at 4 h within brain structures remote from the site of focal injury. These structures included the lateral and auditory cortices ipsilaterally, the striatum and thalamus ipsilaterally, and the hippocampus bilaterally. In addition to these remote metabolic effects, depressed metabolism occurred within the homologous cortical region contralateral to the site of infarction. By 5 days, glucose utilization was severely depressed in all ipsilateral cortical regions but not within any contralateral cortical region. Analysis of these data suggests that more than one mechanism is responsible for the metabolic alterations occurring within brain regions remote from the site of irreversible damage. Results are discussed in light of the hemodynamic alterations occurring in this stroke model, which are presented in the accompanying report.