Insulin: its relationship to the central nervous system and to the control of food intake and body weight.

This article describes the close relationship among the hormone insulin, the central nervous system, and the regulation of food intake and body adiposity. The initial section documents the control of insulin output from the pancreas by the central nervous system, and a later section describes the relationship of insulin levels in the blood to the degree of adiposity. Another section documents the ability of insulin to gain access to the brain and to elicit responses there. Finally, the behavioral effects of insulin added to the brain, and especially its ability to reduce food intake and body weight, is discussed. The implications to obesity are stressed throughout.