“…Knowledge of the blood oxygen saturation, either globally (by measuring in the major outflow veins) or locally (by measuring in other, smaller, veins), is important when it comes to understanding the physiology of the brain, evaluating oxygen supply in relevant diagnostic groups and assessing the overall vitality and function of the brain (Haacke et al ., ; Jain et al ., ; Sharf & El‐Gebali, ). It has, for example, been shown that the jugular venous oxygen saturation correlates with the Glasgow coma scale (Sharf & El‐Gebali, ). Furthermore, the oxygen extraction of the brain can be used to calculate the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO 2 ), which is of clinical and scientific relevance, for example, in differentiation between incipient and advanced late‐onset Alzheimer's disease and in the understanding of the relationship between cerebral metabolism and the blood CO 2 level (connected with hypercapnia) (Siesjö, ; Hoyer et al ., ; Jain et al ., ; Xu et al ., ).…”