Research Goals:

Sugars are critical to brain function since they are the energy source required for neurons and glia. Our goals are to elucidate the dynamics of sugar movement in the brain and to examine how alterations in sugar dynamics affect physiological brain activity to cause neurological diseases (Figure 1).

Using mice as a model system, we recently determined that excess sugar consumption during adolescence is a strong contributing factor to psychological disease (Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abl6077). In these mice, excess sugar consumption resulted in severe impairments in sugar transport from blood vessels into the brain. In addition, the connection between high blood sugar and Alzheimer’s disease is so strong that Alzheimer’s disease has been described as a third type of diabetes. These observations indicate that breakdowns in metabolic pathways and sugar homeostasis are almost certain to contribute to the development and severity of psychological and neurological diseases. Our work will contribute to the development of new drugs to improve metabolism and novel treatments for psychological and neurological diseases.