Genomic and Epigenomic Mechanisms in the Environmental Regulation of Stress-Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders
A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Genomics and Genetic Diseases".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2026 | Viewed by 177
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In an era marked by widespread psychological stress, trauma exposure, and growing mental health burdens worldwide, understanding the biological and genomic basis of stress resilience and vulnerability has never been more urgent. Stress and traumatic life events shape long-term brain function, mental health trajectories, and aging processes, yet individual responses vary dramatically. These differences pose major challenges for public health and clinical intervention, while also offering unprecedented opportunities to uncover novel mechanisms linking the social environment, brain biology, and genomic regulation. This research area is highly timely, bridging behavioral science, social genomics, and neuroscience to address real-world mental health needs.
This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances in behavioral and social science genomics related to stress, trauma, and brain function. We seek to integrate cutting-edge findings from stress neurobiology and epigenetics to explain individual differences in resilience, psychiatric disorders such as depression and PTSD, and stress-related accelerated aging.
The topics of interest for this Special Issue include the following:
- Genetic architecture of social, cognitive, and behavioral traits;
- Neurobiological and epigenetic mechanisms underlying stress resilience and vulnerability;
- Genomic and environmental influences on trauma-related psychiatric disorders;
- Social and environmental factors modulating brain aging and mental health outcomes.
Dr. Richard Hunter
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- gene–environment interaction
- behavioral genomics
- social science genomics
- behavioral genetics
- stress-related aging
- PTSD
- depression
- individual vulnerability
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