2182 - PROJECT "HIPPOCRATES": INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IS NEEDED FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRO-NEUROCHEMICAL FACTORS

Session: P_D04S003 - Poster Session 3 - Division 4
AUTHORS:
Sulis William (McMaster University ~ Hamilton ~ Canada) , Troffimova Irina (McMaster University ~ Hamilton ~ Canada)
Abstract text:
The presentation describes a possible setup of an international project, "Hippocrates" (H-project), named after the father of systematic medicine who authored the endocrine theory of temperaments. The idea of such a project is already discussed in the academic community 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101143. The H-project investigates the interaction of endocrine and neurochemical systems with environmental factors affecting consistent behavioural patterns (CBPs) in health (such as temperament traits) and psychopathology(symptoms of psychiatric disorders). These environmental factors include components of contrasted regions on the rates of mental illness, exposure to common psychostimulants and 12 features of a national character highlighted in the FET framework: diets (for example, tryptophan as a component of serotonin synthesis; soy products as a source of estrogens); climates (for example, exposure to sun light affecting orexin production; cold and heat affecting immune systems), microbiota, exposure to toxins and common psychostimulants (such as alcohol, nicotine, cannabis and opiates). Therefore, the analysis of neurochemical biomarkers of CBP can't limit investigations of the roles of hormones, neurotransmitters and opioid receptor systems in behavioural regulation in isolation from regional differences in named environmental factors. The project's setup suggests structuring measurements and variables in line with the 12 components of the neurochemical framework "Functional Ensemble of Temperament" (FET) (doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.03.008; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0167; doi:10.1159/000513688; doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.641286; doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.781631; doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101109). The experimental design of the project is focused on the functional "relays" between the releasing and receptor sites for each neurochemical system highlighted in the FET and on outlining the dynamics of these relays under the influence of environmental factors (diets, climates, microbiota, exposure to toxins and to common psychostimulants). These investigations could be conducted in culturally and geographically different samples contrasted by the named environmental factors.