Stress, epigenetics and mental health

It is daunting challenge to understand one person’s behaviour, the roots of his or her mental illnesses since it requires us to look inside someone’s mind. There are so much subjective, subconscious and undiscoverable things in this research area. Nevertheless, evolutionary psychology, psychiatry and epigenetics provides us with several possible explanations of these problems. 

According to evolutionary psychology emotions, cognitive functions and decision-making are the result of the long-term evolution. During this process aforementioned functions have been improving for better adaption to human environment.

Evolutionary psychiatry considers how various behaviours, cognitions and emotions develop into "psychiatric symptoms" and dysfunctions that require correction or treatment.

Nowadays, the world witnesses a significant increase in global prevalence of anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, addictions, eating disorders, self-harming behaviour and other behavioural deviations, especially among young people. This leads to major economic and moral losses, and also takes considerable efforts of healthcare systems to change the situation.

There are many reasons to believe that the main origin of abovementioned problems is psychosocial stress. It is a perceived stress caused by pace of modern life, changing nature of work, information flows and increased pressure on brain’s neural structure. All these factors are resulting from drastically changed life environment created by humanity itself.

The stress response was shaped by archaic biological mechanisms formed during millions of years of evolution. In past decades it became clear that stress hormones and other stress-related factors can cause so-called "organising effects" which administer body organs and systems functioning regime over many decades of one’s life.

What role epigenetic mechanisms play in humans’ life? What is the biological evolutionary significance of it? How typical for humans are they? Can epigenetics explain increase in mental health disorders around the world? What prospects does the field of epigenetic pharmacology open up? How can we make "evolutionary mismatch" contribute not to disorders and diseases, but to accelerated human development? You will find answers to these and many other questions during our lecture.

‍The lecture will be delivered by Professor Vsevolod Rozanov, PhD in Medicine, Chairman of the section of suicidology in the Russian Psychiatric Society, Co-chairman of the section on suicidology in the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), Professor at the SPbU Health Psychology and Deviant Behaviours department, Chief research scientist at V.M. Bekhterev National Research Medical Centre for psychiatry and neurology (St Petersburg, Russia). Professor Rozanov is the author of more than 400 research papers in neurochemistry, neuropharmacology, psychogenetics and suicidology fields.

The meeting will be held online in Russian with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

Registration