Researchers from the Metabolism Research Institute. Max Planck found that the anti-obesity drug liraglutide improved learning in overweight people. The research was published in the journal Nature Metabolism.
Associative learning is based on associating a neutral external stimulus with the outcome that follows it. For example, if a hotplate on an induction hob glows red, it’s hot and can burn your hand, the authors write. This type of learning is necessary for the formation of neural connections and is controlled by the insulin-sensitive region of the brain. It is known that with obesity, the body’s sensitivity to insulin decreases. In a new study, scientists tested whether this affects associative learning.
The experiment involved 30 volunteers of normal body weight and high insulin sensitivity, and 24 people with obesity and low insulin sensitivity. The scientists found that the ability to associate sensory stimuli was worse in obese participants and decreased brain activity in areas that control such learning.
On the evening of the day of the experiment, the participants took either liraglutide or a dummy drug. Liraglutide stimulates insulin production and induces satiety and is often used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. The next morning, subjects took a test to assess associative learning.
After just one dose of liraglutide, the obese participants no longer developed learning difficulties. Also, the drug restored their brain activity to that of normal-weight people.
“While it is encouraging that current drugs have a positive effect on brain activity in obesity, it is worrying that there are changes in brain function even in obese youth without other diseases. Prevention of obesity should play a much larger role in our health care. in the future. “Lifelong treatment is less of an option than primary prevention of obesity and its complications,” said Ruth Hansen, physician at University Hospital Cologne and first author of the study.
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