In individuals of healthy weight, intranasal insulin can enhance cognition and decision-making; these effects are dissociable from insulin’s ability to regulate blood glucose. Furthermore, rising rates of obesity and type II diabetes, diseases characterized by elevated insulin and blunted insulin signaling, highlight the need to understand insulin’s effects on neurophysiology [1]. However, despite expression of insulin receptors throughout the brain, little is known about its effects on neural function and resulting behavior (see ref. [2] for review). For example, in humans and rodents, actions of insulin in the brain decrease food intake, but the mechanisms are undefined; the same is true for insulin’s cognitive-enhancing properties, with or without obesity.

Beyond the hypothalamus: roles for insulin as a regulator of neurotransmission, motivation, and feeding https://link.researcher-app.com/w2JM – via Researcher (@ResearcherApp)