A large proportion of neuropsychiatric and somatic disorders have complex etiological architectures, in which genetic determinants interact with environmental triggers modulating the disease risk. Depression, diabetes, asthma, hepatic tumors, renal and cardiovascular disease are just some of the many conditions where environmental factors modulate the liability conferred by genetic factors. Of note, these disorders are among those that, despite the continuous progress in medicine, still show epidemic aspects, with raising incidence observed over the last decades. Clearly, given that genetic factors are, for the most part, inherently stable, a plausible culprit for this epidemic is the environmental impact. Indeed, even if the heritability (i.e. the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by genetic factors) of some psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, can reach 70-80%, other conditions, such as major depressive disorders, have much lower estimates. Of note this finding extends also to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, where the heritability is negligible.
Cumulatively, these data highlight the significant role of environmental factors in modulating the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. Particularly relevant are early exposure to trauma, dietary deficits during prenatal and developmental phases, seasonality of birth, smoking, alcoholism, hypertension, hypoxia/asphyxia, placental insufficiency, prematurity, low birth weight among the others.
Recent observations support the hypothesis that a phenomenon defined as ‘decanalization’ might contribute to the observed epidemic nature of common genetic diseases. According to this hypothesis, the rapid evolution of the human genome, combined with marked environmental and cultural perturbations in the past two generations, might have led to the uncovering of cryptic genetic variations that represent a major source of disease susceptibility. In this context, there has been an increased interest in defining the exact contribution of the environmental exposure dense network, which cumulatively represents the sum of the nongenetic “risk” factors.
For instance, in schizophrenia, recent evidence showed the possibility of quantifying, with relatively good accuracy, the environmental loading of a range of exposures. In this case, environmental risk factors explained up to 20% of the phenotypic variance in schizophrenia.
Concerning neurological disorders, novel computational approaches including endogenous and exogenous environmental factors and multi-generational consideration of these interactions over age and time (GxExT) appear promising in Alzheimer’s disease.
In this Research Topic, we aim to gather Original Research and Review articles on the role played by environmental cofactors, and their interplay with genomics, in the etiology of complex psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, major depressive disorder, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, among the others.
Our goal is to showcase the advancements in the area of environmental contribution to the liability of neuropsychiatric disorders with a focus on the analytical approaches that might help to quantify the contribution of the cumulative environmental exposures on the disease risk and the interplay with genomics.
We would like authors to address the following, but not limited to, topics:
• Quantification of the impact of specific environmental cofactors on the liability threshold for common complex neuropsychiatric disorders
• Identification of environmental components with pleiotropic effects on the cumulative environmental exposure in diverse neuropsychiatric disorders
• Experimental neurobiological models to identify environmental-related mechanisms on the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurological disorders and on specific subphenotypes (treatment response)
• Since environmental determinants are modifiable, suggest possible preventive strategies, (e.g. magnesium supplementation in pregnant women) and characterize their impact on the prevalence of complex disorders.
A large proportion of neuropsychiatric and somatic disorders have complex etiological architectures, in which genetic determinants interact with environmental triggers modulating the disease risk. Depression, diabetes, asthma, hepatic tumors, renal and cardiovascular disease are just some of the many conditions where environmental factors modulate the liability conferred by genetic factors. Of note, these disorders are among those that, despite the continuous progress in medicine, still show epidemic aspects, with raising incidence observed over the last decades. Clearly, given that genetic factors are, for the most part, inherently stable, a plausible culprit for this epidemic is the environmental impact. Indeed, even if the heritability (i.e. the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by genetic factors) of some psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, can reach 70-80%, other conditions, such as major depressive disorders, have much lower estimates. Of note this finding extends also to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, where the heritability is negligible.
Cumulatively, these data highlight the significant role of environmental factors in modulating the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. Particularly relevant are early exposure to trauma, dietary deficits during prenatal and developmental phases, seasonality of birth, smoking, alcoholism, hypertension, hypoxia/asphyxia, placental insufficiency, prematurity, low birth weight among the others.
Recent observations support the hypothesis that a phenomenon defined as ‘decanalization’ might contribute to the observed epidemic nature of common genetic diseases. According to this hypothesis, the rapid evolution of the human genome, combined with marked environmental and cultural perturbations in the past two generations, might have led to the uncovering of cryptic genetic variations that represent a major source of disease susceptibility. In this context, there has been an increased interest in defining the exact contribution of the environmental exposure dense network, which cumulatively represents the sum of the nongenetic “risk” factors.
For instance, in schizophrenia, recent evidence showed the possibility of quantifying, with relatively good accuracy, the environmental loading of a range of exposures. In this case, environmental risk factors explained up to 20% of the phenotypic variance in schizophrenia.
Concerning neurological disorders, novel computational approaches including endogenous and exogenous environmental factors and multi-generational consideration of these interactions over age and time (GxExT) appear promising in Alzheimer’s disease.
In this Research Topic, we aim to gather Original Research and Review articles on the role played by environmental cofactors, and their interplay with genomics, in the etiology of complex psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, major depressive disorder, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, among the others.
Our goal is to showcase the advancements in the area of environmental contribution to the liability of neuropsychiatric disorders with a focus on the analytical approaches that might help to quantify the contribution of the cumulative environmental exposures on the disease risk and the interplay with genomics.
We would like authors to address the following, but not limited to, topics:
• Quantification of the impact of specific environmental cofactors on the liability threshold for common complex neuropsychiatric disorders
• Identification of environmental components with pleiotropic effects on the cumulative environmental exposure in diverse neuropsychiatric disorders
• Experimental neurobiological models to identify environmental-related mechanisms on the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurological disorders and on specific subphenotypes (treatment response)
• Since environmental determinants are modifiable, suggest possible preventive strategies, (e.g. magnesium supplementation in pregnant women) and characterize their impact on the prevalence of complex disorders.
