Intranasal Insulin Modulates Intrinsic Reward and Prefrontal Circuitry of the Human Brain in Lean Women
Abstract
Aim: There is accumulating evidence that food consumption is controlled by a wide range of brain circuits outside of the homeostatic system. Activation in these brain circuits may override the homeostatic system and also contribute to the enormous increase of obesity. However, little is known about the influence of hormonal signals on the brain's non-homeostatic system. Thus, selective insulin action in the brain was investigated by using intranasal application. Methods: We performed ‘resting-state' functional magnetic resonance imaging in 17 healthy lean female subjects to assess intrinsic brain activity by fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) before, 30 and 90 min after application of intranasal insulin. Results: Here, we showed that insulin modulates intrinsic brain activity in the hypothalamus and orbitofrontal cortex. Furthermore, we could show that the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex response to insulin is associated with body mass index. Conclusion: This demonstrates that hormonal signals as insulin may reduce food intake by modifying the reward and prefrontal circuitry of the human brain, thereby potentially decreasing the rewarding properties of food. Due to the alarming increase in obesity worldwide, it is of great importance to identify neural mechanisms of interaction between the homeostatic and non-homeostatic system to generate new targets for obesity therapy.
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For the fMRI study, the sample size was chosen based on previous studies using fMRI in combination with intranasal insulin versus placebo showing moderate-to-high within-group (dz = 0.7) and high between-group differences (dz = 0.9) in hypothalamus insulin action.
“For the fMRI study, the sample size was chosen based on previous studies using fMRI in combination with intranasal insulin versus placebo showing moderate-to-high within-group (dz = 0.7) and high between-group differences (dz = 0.9) in hypothalamus insulin action8,48.”
From Brain insulin action on peripheral insulin sensitivity in women depends on menstrual cycle phase (2023) · cites this paper as [48]
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- Authors
- Kullmann, S., Frank, S., Heni, M., Ketterer, C., Veit, R., Häring, H.-U., Fritsche, A., & Preissl, H.
- Affiliations
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Universitätsklinikum Tübingen (DE)
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Neuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- S. Karger AG
- Published
- 2012-08-25
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 176-182
- ISSN
- 0028-3835 (ISSN-L)
- 1423-0194
- OpenAlex
- W2030421672
- Cited by
- 110
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 10
- FWCI
- 3.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Site cant be reached (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- intranasal insulin, intrinsic brain activity, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, food reward, hypothalamus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, body mass index, obesity, dietary intake, lean women
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Insulin, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nerve Net, Placebos, Reward, Thinness, Body Mass Index, Prefrontal Cortex, Young Adult
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