Gene–Environment Interplay in the Development of Behavioral and Psychiatric Disorders Across the Lifespan

Behavioral and psychiatric disorders arise from dynamic interactions between genetic predisposition and environmental influences across development and aging. Increasing evidence highlights critical windows of vulnerability and plasticity during which environmental exposures—such as early-life stress, social context, nutrition, and age-related physiological changes—shape genetic risk. Advances in human genetics, longitudinal cohort studies, and multi-omics approaches, alongside mechanistic investigations in model organisms (e.g., rodents, zebrafish, and invertebrates), have provided new insights into conserved developmental pathways regulating behavior and psychiatric traits.Despite substantial progress in identifying genetic risk factors, translating these findings into mechanistic understanding and clinical impact remains a key challenge. Genetic variants rarely act in isolation; their effects are modulated by developmental stage, environmental exposures, and experience-dependent plasticity. In addition, fragmentation across human studies, longitudinal cohorts, and experimental model systems has limited the integration of genetic and environmental determinants of behavior.This Research Topic aims to bring together interdisciplinary studies that integrate genetic, environmental, and developmental perspectives to elucidate gene–environment interplay across the lifespan. By identifying critical windows of vulnerability and resilience and uncovering conserved biological pathways, this Topic seeks to inform early intervention strategies and precision approaches for psychiatric and behavioral disorders.This Research Topic welcomes submissions examining genetic and environmental influences on behavioral and psychiatric phenotypes across the lifespan. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:• Gene–environment interactions and correlations• Developmental timing, sensitive periods, and lifespan perspectives• Epigenetic, transcriptomic, and multi-omics mechanisms• Polygenic risk, resilience, and susceptibility• Sex-specific and population-level effects• Environmental modifiers, including stress, nutrition, social context, and aging• Human genetic and longitudinal cohort studies• Mechanistic studies using model organisms (e.g., rodents, zebrafish, Drosophila, C. elegans)• Cross-species and translational approaches• Computational and systems-level modeling of gene–environment outcomes• Intervention-focused studies on prevention, treatment, and resilience Topic editors: Narendra Singh, Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78327/gene-environment-interplay-in-the-development-of-behavioral-and-psychiatric-disorders-across-the-lifespan