Neural Circuits and Network Dysfunctions in Depression and Anxiety

Within human neuroscience, recent advances have transformed our perspective on depression and anxiety, reframing them as conditions of network-level dysfunction rather than isolated regional brain disturbances. Substantial evidence now implicates large-scale brain circuits supporting threat anticipation, reward processing, salience detection, cognitive control, and social-affective behaviors as core substrates underlying these disorders. While pioneering neuroimaging, genetic, and computational studies have identified distinct connectivity alterations and disrupted dynamics across these networks, key questions remain. The field is grappling with how these dysfunctions interact transdiagnostically, predict clinical heterogeneity, or evolve across the lifespan. Importantly, the translation of these circuit-based insights into diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic tools is an urgent, ongoing challenge.

This Research Topic aims to advance the mechanistic and translational understanding of depression and anxiety as disorders of brain network dysfunction. The primary objectives are to delineate specific patterns of interaction among large-scale brain circuits in these conditions, identify circuit-based biomarkers relevant to clinical outcomes, and elucidate the impact of developmental, sex-related, and environmental variables on vulnerability and recovery. By integrating multimodal methodologies, from functional and structural neuroimaging to computational modeling and biomarker profiling, this topic seeks to answer pressing questions about the biological heterogeneity of affective disorders and how network-level disruptions drive progression, maintenance, and response to intervention.

The scope of this Research Topic is restricted to studies focused on human brain circuitry and network dysfunction in depression and anxiety, especially those with implications for clinical practice or public health. We welcome contributions that utilize contemporary neuroscience techniques and translational frameworks, but do not include work solely on non-brain health issues, perioperative care, or pain management unrelated to neural processes. To gather further insights in neural circuit and network dysfunctions in affective disorders, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Large-scale brain network alterations in depression and anxiety
• Circuit-based biotyping and patient stratification
• Developmental, sex-related, and environmental moderators of risk
• Multimodal biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and response prediction
• Neural mechanisms underlying core symptoms such as anhedonia, rumination, and threat sensitivity
• Translational studies advancing precision psychiatry and therapeutic innovation

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: depression, anxiety, anhedonia, affective disorders, neural mechanisms, biomarkers, precision psychiatry, neural circuit, network dysfunction

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.