In this study, we found that neuronal apoptosis and expressions of inflammatory response related proteins p-IκB, IκB-α, TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-κB p65 were increased significantly both in vivo and in vitro in the hippocampi of T2DM rats (Figure 1C, 1D, Figure 2A, 2C) as well as high-glucose treated hippocampal neurons (Figure 3A-3D), indicating that inflammation and neuronal cell death are implicated in diabetes-associated learning and memory deficits. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is type 2 diabetes mellitus.