About this Research Topic

Background

Several reasons could be raised to demonstrate the maintenance of psychopharmacology as one of the most intriguing and challenging areas of research. Mental health, and agents with a central effect, are a crescent topic of interest. Innovative research methods will be responsible for a further boost in the understanding of neurotransmission and mechanisms of action of psychotropic agents, leading to the discovery of new forms of treatment that could aid the suffering mind. Even if we consider how far scientists have brought Psychopharmacology up to this point, the field is still blooming, and there is a long road ahead of us, in order to better understand who we are and how we function. And, as Braslow and Marder brilliantly stated, “[…] we do not believe that biology is destiny. The history of psychopharmacology reminds us of that fact.” It is indeed spectacular how the mind works to understand itself and provide enough knowledge to investigate compounds to improve its function.

The human being has always been fascinated by compounds that could affect the mind, either with the aim of putting your psyche in a comfortable zone or altering consciousness and the state of mind. It was at the beginning of the last century that the word psychopharmacology, derived from the Greek psykhē, the mind, spirit, or soul + farmakon, poison or drug, + logos, the study of, or knowledge of (Revista Lusiada; Carrington; Etymonline), was first used. In 1920, David Macht, a pharmacologist investigating anti-thermic drugs, proposed the term. Ever since the science has evolved with the main purpose of aiding disordered mental states by using psychotropics.

The breakthrough of modern psychopharmacology started in the 1950s, with the synthesis of chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic drug, and continued with the discovery of all psychotropic drug classes. This big start was only possible due to researchers investigating the mechanisms of action of diverse drugs, including several that were at first used for other purposes but happened to also influence the nervous system. The following decades presented a constant and rapid expansion, which enabled us not only to pharmacologically interfere with a dysfunctional brain but also to use psychotropic drugs to understand how the brain works. More importantly, multiple disorders, for instance, mood and psychiatric disorders, were finally acknowledged and could be more precisely treated.

The World Health Organization (WHO) assumes that untreated mental disorders account for 13% of the total global burden of diseases, and it has been estimated that, by 2030, depression will be one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, surpassing heart disease, cancer, and others. Recently, with the COVID-19 outbreak, the pandemic situation led to increased anxiety and fear of uncertainties, all of which have a negative effect on maintaining mental health.
Psychiatric conditions and chronic pain can be difficult to manage with conventional pharmacological treatments and it is not uncommon to have patients who do not respond to several pharmacological options. Therefore, there is a need (and even an urgency) for developing new approaches and treatments to medical conditions that affect the central nervous system.

The aim of this Research Topic is to provide an up-to-date overview of Psychopharmacology, considering discoveries of innate neurotransmission as well as new insights on psychotropic agents, their potential in managing medical conditions related to the central nervous system and their mechanisms of action.

We welcome submissions in the form of original research, case reports, and review articles which cover, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Neurotransmission
• Neuromodulators and atypical neurotransmitters
• Behavioral pharmacology
• Chemical characterization and mechanisms of action of psychotropics.

Keywords: psychopharmacology, drug discovery, drug targets, psychotropic agents, mechanism of action

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.

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