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Published on: January 12, 2013
Insulin effects on CSF norepinephrine and cognition in Alzheimer's disease
G Stennis Watson1, Tanja Bernhardt, Mark A Reger
1Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98108-1532, USA.
Abstract:
We assessed the effects of induced hyperinsulinemia on plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of norepinephrine (NE) and on cognition for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and normal older adults. For normal adults, insulin increased plasma and CSF NE levels; also, recall for paraphrased details of a story improved as CSF NE levels increased. Mental control was positively correlated with CSF levels of NE for patients. These findings demonstrate that raising peripheral insulin levels can modulate CNS NE levels and suggest that insulin-stimulated increases in NE may modulate cognitive functions.
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