REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Neuropharmacology
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Impact of Nutritional, Environmental, and Lifestyle Factors on Neurological Disorders: Therapeutic Implications and Mechanistic InsightsView all articles
The Impact of Nutritional, Environmental, and Lifestyle Factors on Neurological Disorders: Therapeutic Implications and Mechanistic Insights
Provisionally accepted
- University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and primary psychiatric conditions are complex, arising from a mix of genetic and modifiable risks. Growing evidence indicates that nutrition, environment, and lifestyle significantly influence disease development, progression, and treatment response. Nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, and polyphenols affect neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial health, and neurotransmitter function. Dietary patterns like the Mediterranean and ketogenic diets offer protective benefits in clinical and experimental contexts. Meanwhile, environmental neurotoxicants – air pollution, heavy metals, pesticides, and endocrine disruptors contribute to neurodegeneration via oxidative damage, synaptic impairment, and epigenetic alterations. Lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, sleep, stress, and substance use, affect brain plasticity, neurogenesis, and metabolic health, thereby influencing disease progression over time. These factors often share common pathways such as oxidative stress, inflammation, vascular injury, mitochondrial dysfunction, and protein misfolding, underscoring the need for a comprehensive prevention and treatment strategy. Emerging therapies now incorporate personalized nutrition, lifestyle changes, and environmental risk mitigation alongside traditional drugs, supported by advances in multi-omics, digital health, and systems biology. Public health efforts to reduce neurotoxic exposure and encourage healthy habits further strengthen these approaches. This review summarizes existing mechanistic and clinical knowledge, with a focus on the potential of nutritional, environmental, and lifestyle interventions in neurological diseases. It also outlines the future research required to enhance precision neurology and strategies for brain health prevention.
Keywords: environment, epigenetics, gut-brain axis, lifestyle, Mitochondria, Neuroinflammation, Neurology, nutrition
Received: 11 Dec 2025; Accepted: 28 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Chakif and Furrer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dib Chakif
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