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Beyond the hypothalamus: roles for insulin as a regulator of neurotransmission, motivation, and feeding

Neuropsychopharmacology volume 48, pages 232–233 (2023)Cite this article

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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.

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Fig. 1: Summary of effects of insulin receptor activation on synaptic transmission within the nucleus accumbens (striatum) and ventral tegmental area (VTA).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Victoria Macht for artwork shown in Fig. 1. CRF was supported by NIDDK R01DK130246, R01DK106188, and 1R01DK115526-01; JEF was supported by T32-DK101357.

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  1. Department of Pharmacology, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Carrie R. Ferrario & Julie E. Finnell

  2. Psychology Department (Biopsychology), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Carrie R. Ferrario

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  1. Carrie R. Ferrario
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  2. Julie E. Finnell
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CRF and JEF both contributed to the writing of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Carrie R. Ferrario.

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Ferrario, C.R., Finnell, J.E. Beyond the hypothalamus: roles for insulin as a regulator of neurotransmission, motivation, and feeding. Neuropsychopharmacol. 48, 232–233 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01398-y

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