Psicologia Anormal e Comportamental

A Tale of Two Sites: Insulin Resistance in Peripheral Tissues and the Brain

Abstract

Nadia Rania*

Insulin resistance has been recognised since a few decades after the discovery of insulin. To paraphrase a classic Charles Dickens novel published 62 years before the discovery of insulin, this is the best of times, as the concept of insulin resistance has expanded to include the brain, with the realisation that insulin has a life beyond glucose regulation. In other words, it is the worst of times because insulin resistance is linked to deadly diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and Alzheimer's disease, all of which affect the brain. Peripheral insulin resistance affects nearly a quarter of the adult population in the United States. It has recently been linked to Alzheimer's disease, specifically the level of brain insulin.