Citation

Lutz PE, Mechawar N, Turecki G. Mol. Psychiatry 2017; 22(10): 1395-1412.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1038/mp.2017.141

PMID

28696430

Abstract

Suicide is a major public health concern and a leading cause of death in most societies. Suicidal behaviour is complex and heterogeneous, likely resulting from several causes. It associates with multiple factors, including psychopathology, personality traits, early-life adversity and stressful life events, among others. Over the past decades, studies in fields ranging from neuroanatomy, genetics and molecular psychiatry have led to a model whereby behavioural dysregulation, including suicidal behaviour (SB), develops as a function of biological adaptations in key brain systems. More recently, the unravelling of the unique epigenetic processes that occur in the brain has opened promising avenues in suicide research. The present review explores the various facets of the current knowledge on suicidality and discusses how the rapidly evolving field of neurobehavioural epigenetics may fuel our ability to understand, and potentially prevent, SB.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 11 July 2017; doi:10.1038/mp.2017.141.

Language: en