Scientists continue to find evidence linking Type 2 diabetes with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia and the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. However, little is understood about the mechanism by which the two are connected.

Now, researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, have demonstrated that impaired insulin signaling in the brain negatively affects cognition, mood and metabolism, all components of Alzheimer’s Disease.

In the study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers, developed a novel mouse model in which they blocked the expression in the brain of both insulin receptors and the closely-related insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) receptors to two regions critical for learning, memory and mood. Continue reading->