The effect of focal electrical stimulation of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) on the regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (rCMRglc) was examined in halothane-anesthetized rats using the quantitative [14C]2-deoxy-D-glucose method. The stimulation of the unilateral NBM (with parameters of 200 microA, 0.5 ms, 50 Hz for 45 min) did not influence rCMRglc in any brain regions except for the stimulated NBM itself. In cerebral cortex ipsilateral to the NBM stimulated, the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was increased by the NBM stimulation through the stimulated period, while rCMRglc was not increased. These results suggest that the increase in rCBF in the cortex following focal electrical stimulation of the NBM is not a consequence of an increase in rCMRglc in the cerebral cortex.