Future Challenges for the Diagnosis and Management of Affective Disorders: From Preclinical Evidence to Clinical Trials

Dear Colleagues,

The diagnosis and management of affective disorders have been influenced by new clinical and research evidence in recent decades. Alongside the monoamine hypothesis of mood disorders, new theories have been proposed including the role of glutamate, neuro-inflammation, genetic findings from large analyses consortia, etc. These biological achievements have led to new treatments based on physical therapies (e.g., magnetic stimulation) or pharmacological trials (e.g., esketmine). Moreover, the recent diagnostic classifications proposed by the DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 significantly modified criteria for mood disorders: e.g., the diagnosis of ‘mixed episode’ has been replaced by the clinical specifier of ‘mixed features’, the introduction of Complicated Grief as an independent disorder as well as the relevance of dimensions in psychopathology in the ICD-11.

These new trends and paradigms led to a broader clinical characterization of affective disorders including different factors related to patients (e.g., affective temperaments, chrono-types, seasonal patterns in mood disorders, mental pain, etc.), or to the therapeutic encounter and relationship (e.g., clinical decision making, psychoeducation, psychotherapies, etc.). Additionally, new biomarkers and biological tools, alongside the psychopathological rating scales, have been proposed for the diagnosis or phenotyping of affective disorders (e.g., interleukins, inflammation indices, neurotrophic factors, etc.). Particular attention has been paid to depression in special populations, such as the elderly or perinatal depression, focusing on the impact of illness on mothers’ health and newborn’s development. Not least, psychosocial interventions specifically conceived for mood disorders have been introduced alongside psycho-pharmacotherapies in order to increase the rate of recovery, patients’ empowerment, and improve the quality of life in the long-term outcome of illness as well as patients’ global functioning. All these themes will be addressed in the Special Issue named “Future Challenges for the Diagnosis and Management of Affective Disorders: from preclinical evidence to clinical trials”. Papers addressing biological aspects on affective disorders as well as those focused on novel diagnostic and therapeutic options are welcome.

Dr. Antonio Ventriglio
Dr. Mario Luciano
Prof. Dr. Andrea Fiorillo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.