The underlying mechanisms of stress related disorders and potential treatment maneuvers

Stress related disorders, such as major depressive disorder, sleep disorders and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have been one of the most heavy medical burdens worldwide, especially during the pandemic of COVID-19. In recent two decades, substantial advances in exploring the underlying mechanisms of these disorders have made. In fact, it has been shown that there is a relevant link between stress-related disorders such as sleep disturbance and the pathogenesis of MDD/Anxiety. Moreover, the crosstalk between neurons and glia cells and the dysfunction of brain circuits were partly explored with the rapid advance of techniques in neuroscience. Nevertheless, up until now, few new generations of treatment maneuvers were translated from bench to bedside, indicating that investigation underscoring the mechanisms contributing to the aforementioned stress-related disorders, such as the detailed brain-circuit changes, glia cells dysfunctions are still being a tremendous challenge.

The overall object of this Special Issue is to disseminate and discuss recent advances in the underlying mechanisms of stress-related disorders, with a focus on the following subtopics:

• the cross-talk between stress related mental disorders, such as the effect of sleep disorders in the development of MDD.
• the role of neuroinflammation produced by microglia/macrophages or astrocytes in the pathogenesis of stress related disorders
• Novel targets or approaches focus on treatment or assessment of stress related disorders, not limiting to neuropharmacological medications.

We will accept contributions in the form of original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, systematic reviews, clinical trials.