There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Insulin is now well-established as playing multiple roles within the brain, and specifically
as regulating hippocampal cognitive processes and metabolism. Impairments to insulin
signaling, such as those seen in type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, are associated
with brain hypometabolism and cognitive impairment but the mechanisms of insulin’s
central effects are not determined. Several lines of research converge to suggest
that the insulin - responsive glucose transporter GluT4 plays a central role in hippocampal
memory processes, and that reduced activation of this transporter may underpin the
cognitive impairments seen as a consequence of insulin resistance.