Looking for a Culprit: the Role of Environmental Co-Factors in Complex Neuropsychiatric Disorders

  • 13k

    Total Downloads

  • 72k

    Total Views and Downloads

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

A large proportion of neuropsychiatric and somatic disorders have complex etiological architectures, in which genetic determinants interact with environmental triggers modulating the disease risk. Depression, diabetes, asthma, hepatic tumors, renal and cardiovascular disease are just some of the many conditions where environmental factors modulate the liability conferred by genetic factors. Of note, these disorders are among those that, despite the continuous progress in medicine, still show epidemic aspects, with raising incidence observed over the last decades. Clearly, given that genetic factors are, for the most part, inherently stable, a plausible culprit for this epidemic is the environmental impact. Indeed, even if the heritability (i.e. the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by genetic factors) of some psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, can reach 70-80%, other conditions, such as major depressive disorders, have much lower estimates. Of note this finding extends also to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, where the heritability is negligible.
Cumulatively, these data highlight the significant role of environmental factors in modulating the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. Particularly relevant are early exposure to trauma, dietary deficits during prenatal and developmental phases, seasonality of birth, smoking, alcoholism, hypertension, hypoxia/asphyxia, placental insufficiency, prematurity, low birth weight among the others.

Recent observations support the hypothesis that a phenomenon defined as ‘decanalization’ might contribute to the observed epidemic nature of common genetic diseases. According to this hypothesis, the rapid evolution of the human genome, combined with marked environmental and cultural perturbations in the past two generations, might have led to the uncovering of cryptic genetic variations that represent a major source of disease susceptibility. In this context, there has been an increased interest in defining the exact contribution of the environmental exposure dense network, which cumulatively represents the sum of the nongenetic “risk” factors.

For instance, in schizophrenia, recent evidence showed the possibility of quantifying, with relatively good accuracy, the environmental loading of a range of exposures. In this case, environmental risk factors explained up to 20% of the phenotypic variance in schizophrenia.
Concerning neurological disorders, novel computational approaches including endogenous and exogenous environmental factors and multi-generational consideration of these interactions over age and time (GxExT) appear promising in Alzheimer’s disease.

In this Research Topic, we aim to gather Original Research and Review articles on the role played by environmental cofactors, and their interplay with genomics, in the etiology of complex psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, major depressive disorder, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, among the others.

Our goal is to showcase the advancements in the area of environmental contribution to the liability of neuropsychiatric disorders with a focus on the analytical approaches that might help to quantify the contribution of the cumulative environmental exposures on the disease risk and the interplay with genomics.

We would like authors to address the following, but not limited to, topics:

• Quantification of the impact of specific environmental cofactors on the liability threshold for common complex neuropsychiatric disorders

• Identification of environmental components with pleiotropic effects on the cumulative environmental exposure in diverse neuropsychiatric disorders

• Experimental neurobiological models to identify environmental-related mechanisms on the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurological disorders and on specific subphenotypes (treatment response)

• Since environmental determinants are modifiable, suggest possible preventive strategies, (e.g. magnesium supplementation in pregnant women) and characterize their impact on the prevalence of complex disorders.

Keywords: Neuropsychiatric disorders, Environmental Co-factors, Genetic Determinants, Risk Factors

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and they fall under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

      In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Participating Journals

Impact

  • 72kTopic views
  • 58kArticle views
  • 13kArticle downloads
View impact