Metabolic Control by the Brain

The Academy is researching how insulin works in the brain and what influence it exerts on the development of diabetes. One focus is on sex-specific differences. Estrogen protects women in perimenopause better against obesity. The protein Cited1 enhances this effect in the brain. Studies also show that nasal insulin improves insulin sensitivity in women in the first half of the menstrual cycle. The insulin effect changes with age and metabolic state, especially in brain regions responsible for memory and reward. 

People with obesity respond to reward signals more poorly – an effect of impaired insulin action in the brain. A single dose of liraglutide, a GLP-1 drug, was able to normalize this learning process. This shows that GLP-1 acts not only in the body, but also in the brain – and could exert a positive influence on disturbed eating behavior.

The mother’s metabolism influences the development of the child’s brain. In gestational diabetes (GDM), DZD researchers were able to detect changes in the brain and heart activity of the fetus. Animal models have shown that although the administration of metformin during pregnancy improves the mother’s metabolism, it has no positive effects on the child’s brain. On the contrary: Subtle changes were detected in brain development. 

In the long term, GDM in the mother can affect the brain function of the children. In a study using functional MRI, children of mothers with GDM showed increased activity in the hippocampus – a region that is important for reward processing and eating behavior – when viewing high-calorie foods.