Intranasal administration of insulin for a predetermined period prior to anesthesia significantly prevented anesthesia-induced tau hyperphosphorylation and cognitive impairment and enhanced brain insulin signaling in mice. Intranasal insulin thus provides a treatment for prevention of anesthesia-induced tau pathology and increased risk for tauopathies in surgical patients and may be administered to a subject prior to anesthesia, such as by administering several doses of intranasal insulin for several consecutive days prior to any anesthesia.
