About this Research Topic
** Please note - the manuscript submission deadline has been amended to the 30th of January 2025.
Environmental pollution, including food pollution (i.e., the unwanted contamination of both chemical and biological substances in our food supply), is known to be associated with poorer physical health and to worsen organic diseases, including some types of cancer; yet little attention has been given so far to the consequences of exposure to pollutants on mental health.
Mental diseases have become a societal and economic burden, with growing evidence associating environmental pollution with an enhanced risk of developing neurological conditions, psychiatric disorders, and comorbidities. A link between pollution and conditions like depression and anxiety disorders has been reported recently, and new evidence supports the notion that pollution is significantly associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and personality disorder. The risk is particularly high for children and adolescents who might be exposed to pollution at critical stages of brain development. Indeed, in addition to cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, and endocrine dysfunction, heavy metals, constituents of air pollution, organic solvents, and food contaminants have been associated with childhood problems with hyperactivity, attention deficit, and impulse control, and an increased risk of psychiatric diseases, such as psychosis and mood disorders, often combined with neurological conditions including highly prevalent pain sensitization. Behavioral traits like hyperactivity, compulsion, and impulsivity that are common in drug addiction and other psychiatric diseases (e.g., ADHD, eating disorders, OCD, bipolar disorder) have been associated with exposure to environmental pollutants. Yet, the underlying biological mechanistic pathways remain elusive. To date, no therapeutic treatment is designed to target pollution-based psychiatric diseases and associated neurological conditions, which makes this area of research a vital public health priority and highlights the need to understand the role of pollutants in mental illness to devise therapeutic approaches.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to collect epidemiological, preclinical, and clinical studies focused on the interaction between environmental pollution and mental health (e.g., which are the effects of pollutants on the brain, how the exposure to pollutants may influence neurodevelopment and behavior, if exposure to environmental pollutants during pregnancy may affect the developing brain and alter cerebral functions in offspring, etc.) with the ultimate aim to stimulate the development of therapeutic approaches, such as pharmacological tools and natural therapeutic phytocompounds, and individuate strategies for efficient and sustainable environmental decontamination.
To gather insights into the role of pollutants and their constituents on brain health, we welcome different article types, i.e., Brief Research Report, Clinical Trial, Community Case Study, Conceptual Analysis, General Commentary, Hypothesis & Theory, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Perspective, Review, Study Protocol and Systematic Review, that among other topics will:
• study the role of environmental pollution in the pathophysiology of mental disorders and psychiatric comorbidities;
• conduct association studies between exposure to environmental pollutants and incidence of mental disorders in population-based cohorts of any age;
• characterize the effect of pollutants on symptoms reflective of psychiatric disorders and comorbidity in validated animal models;
• examine the potential link between exposure to pollutants and gut-brain axis alterations;
• explore the consequence of prenatal exposure to environmental pollution on offspring brain development and behavior;
• analyze the impact of exposure to pollution on stress responses and hormonal milieu;
• investigate neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying pollutants’ effects on brain activity and behavioral responses;
• evaluate the link between water/air/food contaminants and moods and emotional states;
• use epigenetics and/or omics approaches to investigate the effects of pollution on the brain;
• assess potential sex-dependent differences in the effects of pollution on brain functioning;
• verify the ability of phytochemicals and bioactive compounds to attenuate/reverse the effects of pollution on the brain and behavior.
Environmental pollution, including food pollution (i.e., the unwanted contamination of both chemical and biological substances in our food supply), is known to be associated with poorer physical health and to worsen organic diseases, including some types of cancer; yet little attention has been given so far to the consequences of exposure to pollutants on mental health.
Mental diseases have become a societal and economic burden, with growing evidence associating environmental pollution with an enhanced risk of developing neurological conditions, psychiatric disorders, and comorbidities. A link between pollution and conditions like depression and anxiety disorders has been reported recently, and new evidence supports the notion that pollution is significantly associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and personality disorder. The risk is particularly high for children and adolescents who might be exposed to pollution at critical stages of brain development. Indeed, in addition to cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, and endocrine dysfunction, heavy metals, constituents of air pollution, organic solvents, and food contaminants have been associated with childhood problems with hyperactivity, attention deficit, and impulse control, and an increased risk of psychiatric diseases, such as psychosis and mood disorders, often combined with neurological conditions including highly prevalent pain sensitization. Behavioral traits like hyperactivity, compulsion, and impulsivity that are common in drug addiction and other psychiatric diseases (e.g., ADHD, eating disorders, OCD, bipolar disorder) have been associated with exposure to environmental pollutants. Yet, the underlying biological mechanistic pathways remain elusive. To date, no therapeutic treatment is designed to target pollution-based psychiatric diseases and associated neurological conditions, which makes this area of research a vital public health priority and highlights the need to understand the role of pollutants in mental illness to devise therapeutic approaches.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to collect epidemiological, preclinical, and clinical studies focused on the interaction between environmental pollution and mental health (e.g., which are the effects of pollutants on the brain, how the exposure to pollutants may influence neurodevelopment and behavior, if exposure to environmental pollutants during pregnancy may affect the developing brain and alter cerebral functions in offspring, etc.) with the ultimate aim to stimulate the development of therapeutic approaches, such as pharmacological tools and natural therapeutic phytocompounds, and individuate strategies for efficient and sustainable environmental decontamination.
To gather insights into the role of pollutants and their constituents on brain health, we welcome different article types, i.e., Brief Research Report, Clinical Trial, Community Case Study, Conceptual Analysis, General Commentary, Hypothesis & Theory, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Perspective, Review, Study Protocol and Systematic Review, that among other topics will:
• study the role of environmental pollution in the pathophysiology of mental disorders and psychiatric comorbidities;
• conduct association studies between exposure to environmental pollutants and incidence of mental disorders in population-based cohorts of any age;
• characterize the effect of pollutants on symptoms reflective of psychiatric disorders and comorbidity in validated animal models;
• examine the potential link between exposure to pollutants and gut-brain axis alterations;
• explore the consequence of prenatal exposure to environmental pollution on offspring brain development and behavior;
• analyze the impact of exposure to pollution on stress responses and hormonal milieu;
• investigate neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying pollutants’ effects on brain activity and behavioral responses;
• evaluate the link between water/air/food contaminants and moods and emotional states;
• use epigenetics and/or omics approaches to investigate the effects of pollution on the brain;
• assess potential sex-dependent differences in the effects of pollution on brain functioning;
• verify the ability of phytochemicals and bioactive compounds to attenuate/reverse the effects of pollution on the brain and behavior.
Keywords: Environmental Pollutants, Psychiatric Comorbidity, Neurodegeneration, Neuroinflammation, Hormonal Dysfunctions, Behavioral alterations, Sex/Gender Differences, Phytochemicals, Environmental Toxicity, Gut-brain axis alterations
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.
