Chronic dysfunction of the nervous system, including autism spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders, are broadly correlated with metabolic dysfunction, such as obesity and diabetes. Both neural and metabolic disorders are a worldwide epidemiological concern, and the link between them suggests common molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis, which warrant close attention. Additionally, changes in metabolic pathways or activity of specific enzymes can play an important role in neuronal activity and brain function. Metabolic rewiring has also been demonstrated to be involved in CNS cancers. Several mechanisms underlying this connection have been proposed, including chronic inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and altered inter-tissue signaling by endocrine factors as well as by noncoding RNAs. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms remain mostly unknown.

The increasing utilization of high-throughput methods, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and metabolomics, in molecular research, and the improvements in the application of information technology to the resulting large datasets, have enabled researchers to tackle complex, multi-parametric analyses on an unprecedented scale. The goal of this Research Topic is to provide a framework which would encourage an integrative view of metabolic and neural dysfunction and present recent advances in the molecular studies highlighting the link between these two disorder types.

This Research Topic aims to provide a platform for original research articles, comprehensive reviews and short communications in line with the Topic. Specific sub-topics include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Epidemiological studies of the association between metabolic and neural dysfunction

2. Cross-disease studies of common molecular mechanisms of metabolic and neural dysfunction in animal models

3. Studies using “big data” and AI methods to discover new links between metabolic and neural dysfunction

4. Identifying metabolic mechanisms of neuronal changes in cancer or following functional changes

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Frontiers in Neuroscience

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