Editorial: Insulin and The Brain
Résumé
The role of insulin in the brain has been suggested in the late 1950's based on experiments showing that insulin was able to increase glucose uptake in spinal cord tissue, in several brain regions such as the choroid plexus the pineal gland, and in the pituitary (1). Since then, increasing evidence attributed to insulin action in the brain numerous critical roles in the control of vital physiological functions: energy homeostasis, neuronal plasticity, and growth, lipid, and glucose metabolism through the control of peripheral organs. Furthermore, the alteration of insulin action observed in insulin-resistant state or obesity is considered a risk factor for several pathologies including neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders. Nowadays, many studies aim to decipher the mechanisms of insulin action in different brain regions and the related physio-pathological outputs.