Effect of intranasal insulin on cognitive processes and appetite
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Interactions between metabolic, cognitive and reward processes in appetite - Effects of intranasal administration of insulin
IRAS ID
224682
Contact name
Maartje Spetter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
It is well established that eating behaviour is affected by metabolic signals (e.g. insulin, ghrelin, serotonin) and is also modulated via food reward processes. However, in humans, eating behaviour is a complex process, which involves habits, long-term goals and social interaction. Thus, recently it has been proposed that eating is also modulated by higher cognitive processes such as inhibitory control, attention and memory.
Insulin provides information to the brain about the body’s energy resources and contributes to the control of glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism. The hormone responds directly to food ingestion and appears to be involved in the feedback mechanisms that down-regulate appetite and terminate food-intake. Moreover the insulin receptor is expressed in high density in the brain. Therefore insulin seems to be involved in both metabolic processes and cognitive processes. In the last decade it has been shown that intranasal administration of insulin decreases food intake, and enhances thermogenesis and memory. In addition intranasal insulin administration has been shown to affect brain areas related to homeostatic control, reward and memory. BMI appears to have an influence on the effect of intranasal insulin administration, due to insulin resistance and reduced sensitivity in overweight individuals.
Therefore we will recruit healthy females with a wide range of BMI and investigate the effect of intranasal insulin administration on eating, and on metabolic, reward and cognitive processes, related neural responses, and their potential interplay. Subsequently we will examine the effect of body weight on the actions of insulin on these processes. Eating behaviour will be measured with the use of a Universal Eating Monitor (a device that monitors food intake) during lunch and snack consumption, cognitive processes with several computerized inhibitory and memory tasks, and related neuronal responses with functional magnetic resonance imagining.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0347
Date of REC Opinion
8 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion