The Psychoexposome: A holistic perspective beyond health and disease.

BACKGROUND: The concept of the exposome has emerged as a new strategy for studying all environmental exposures throughout an individual’s life and their impact on human health. Nowadays, electronic devices are available to collect data about an individual’s geolocation, biological function, or exposure biomarkers. The appearance of “omic” sciences and advances in bioinformatics have allowed massive data-gathering and analysis from various scientific fields. OBJECTIVE: to propose the term Psychoexposome in line with the concept of the exposome from the field of environmental sciences. METHOD: a literature review of psychological terms associated with the exposome concept was carried out and the rationale and benefits of a psychoexposme approach for psychological sciences is discussed. RESULTS: the terms psychology, psychiatry and neurological diseases are scarce in the exposome approach. A long tradition in psychology of performing epidemiological studies and in the study of multifactorial influences traits places psychologists at an advantageous starting point for conducting psychoexposome studies. CONCLUSION: psychology may take advantage from both exposome and omic sciences to create an integrated psychoexposome approach that may help in deciphering the etiology of psychological disorders and improving people’s mental health.

Tipología circadiana y problemas de salud mental / Circadian typology and problems in mental health

La tipología circadiana (matutina, vespertina o intermedia) es una diferencia individual que se ha relacionado con numerosos aspectos de la salud mental. En este estudio se revisan los principales hallazgos publicados en el área. Tras la búsqueda bibliográfica en las principales bases de datos se seleccionaron un total de 70 artículos publicados en castellano e inglés entre los años 1990 y 2012, recogidos en las bases de datos ISI, Scopus y Medline, donde se muestra que los individuos vespertinos presentan una mayor prevalencia de trastorno afectivo estacional, depresión mayor, trastorno bipolar, esquizofrenia, trastornos de la conducta alimentaria, trastornos del sueño, conductas adictivas, TDAH y mayores niveles de ansiedad que los matutinos. La tipología vespertina se perfila como un factor de riesgo y la matutina como un factor protector para el desarrollo de diversas psicopatologías, apuntándose como posibles causas polimorfismos de los genes reloj, el jet-lag social y algunos rasgos de personalidad. La tipología circadiana debe considerarse en la evaluación, tratamiento y prevención de las psicopatologías, pues afecta al inicio, curso, remisión y recaída de las mismas. La utilización de terapia cronobiológica es un factor a tener en cuenta en el abordaje terapéutico cuando la expresión rítmica circadiana se halla alterada

Circadian typology (morning-type, neither-type, and evening-type) is an individual difference which has been related to numerous aspects of mental health. In this paper we present a review of the findings published on this topic. After searching in the main databases a total number of 70 works were selected, published in Spanish and English from 1990 to 2012 collected in the databases ISI, Scopus and Medline. These works show that individuals with evening-type typology exhibit a greater prevalence of seasonal affective disorder, mayor depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, sleep disorders, addictive behaviours, ADHD, and higher anxiety levels than morning-type typology individuals. In this sense, the evening-type is considered as a factor of risk whereas the morning-type would be a protective factor for the development of several mental disorders. This could be a result of clock gene polymorphisms, social jet lag and some personality traits. Circadian typology must be considered in the evaluation, treatment and prevention of the mental disorders, as it affects to the start, course, remission and relapse of diverse problems of mental health. Chronobiological therapy must be also considered in the therapeutic approaching when the circadian rhythmical expression is altered

Behavioural effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO): changes in sleep architecture in rats.

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an efficient solvent for water-insoluble compounds, widely used in biological studies and as a vehicle for drug therapy, but few data on its neurotoxic or behavioural effects is available. The aim of this work is to explore DMSO's effects upon sleep/wake states. Twenty male rats were sterotaxically prepared for polysomnography. Four concentrations of DMSO (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, in saline) were examined. DMSO or saline were administered intraperitoneally at the beginning of the light period. Three hours of polygraphic recording were evaluated for stages of vigilance after treatment. Sleep/wake parameters and EEG power spectral analyses during sleep were investigated. Results show no significant effect after 5% or 10% DMSO treatment. DMSO 15% increased mean episode duration of light slow wave sleep (SWS), decreasing mean episode duration of deep SWS and of quiet wake (QW). DMSO 20% increased light SWS enhancing number of episodes, while decreased deep SWS mean episode duration. EEG power spectra of sigma and delta activity were also affected by DMSO. Therefore, DMSO at 15% and 20% affects sleep architecture in rats, increasing light SWS and reducing deep SWS. Being aware of DMSO behavioural effects seems important since experimental artefacts caused by DMSO can lead to the erroneous interpretation of results.

Effect of low doses of clozapine on behaviour of isolated and group-housed male mice in the elevated plus-maze test.

Clozapine is effective over a low and narrow dose range in the treatment of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Its efficacy is said to reflect an anxiolytic property of the neuroleptic. This study examined the effects of a low dose range of clozapine (0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg) administered to isolated (7 days) and group-housed male mice on their behaviour in the elevated plus-maze. The results using this model of anxiety showed no dose-dependent effect on behaviour after treatment with low doses of clozapine. Some doses (0.1 and 0.4 mg/kg), however, reduced the duration and frequency of open arm entries compared to control-treated mice in the group-housed animals. This might indicate a slight anxiogenic effect. Support for this view is provided by some of the ethological measures, particularly head-dipping (HD). Seven days of isolation did not alter the main anxiety indices in controls. Nevertheless, some measures (e.g. closed entries and duration in the closed arm) were modified by the clozapine treatment (0.2 mg/kg) in a manner suggesting a mild anxiogenic action. The effects of the drug in individually and group-housed male mice were certainly different.