The debate surrounding nature versus nurture remains a central question in neuroscience, psychology, and in psychiatry, holding implications for both aging processes and the etiology of mental illness. Epigenetics can serve as a bridge between genetic predisposition and environmental influences, thus offering a potential avenue for addressing these questions. Epigenetic clocks, in particular, offer a theoretical framework for measuring biological age based on DNA methylation signatures, enabling the identification of disparities between biological and chronological age. This structured review seeks to consolidate current knowledge regarding the relationship between mental disorders and epigenetic age within the brain. Through a comprehensive literature search encompassing databases such as EBSCO, PubMed, and ClinicalTrials.gov, relevant studies were identified and analyzed. Studies that met inclusion criteria were scrutinized, focusing on those with large sample sizes, analyses of both brain tissue and blood samples, investigation of frontal cortex markers, and a specific emphasis on schizophrenia and depressive disorders. Our review revealed a paucity of significant findings, yet notable insights emerged from studies meeting specific criteria. Studies characterized by extensive sample sizes, analysis of brain tissue and blood samples, assessment of frontal cortex markers, and a focus on schizophrenia and depressive disorders yielded particularly noteworthy results. Despite the limited number of significant findings, these studies shed light on the complex interplay between epigenetic aging and mental illness. While the current body of literature on epigenetic aging in mental disorders presents limited significant findings, it underscores the importance of further research in this area. Future studies should prioritize large sample sizes, comprehensive analyses of brain tissue and blood samples, exploration of specific brain regions such as the frontal cortex, and a focus on key mental disorders. Such endeavors will contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between epigenetic aging and mental illness, potentially informing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

There is a lack of consensus on anatomical nomenclature, standards of documentation, and functional equivalence of the frontal cortex between species. There remains a major gap between human prefrontal function and interpretation of findings in the mouse brain that appears to lack several key prefrontal areas involved in cognition and psychiatric illnesses. The ferret is an emerging model organism that has gained traction as an intermediate model species for the study of top-down cognitive control and other higher-order brain functions. However, this research has yet to benefit from synthesis. Here, we provide a summary of all published research pertaining to the frontal and/or prefrontal cortex of the ferret across research scales. The targeted location within the ferret brain is summarized visually for each experiment, and the anatomical terminology used at time of publishing is compared to what would be the appropriate term to use presently. By doing so, we hope to improve clarity in the interpretation of both previous and future publications on the comparative study of frontal cortex.

Anger and aggression have large impact on people\'s safety and the society at large. In order to provide an intervention to minimise aggressive behaviours, it is important to understand the neural and cognitive aspects of anger and aggression. In this systematic review, we investigate the cognitive and neural aspects of anger-related processes, including anger-related behaviours and anger reduction. Using this information, we then review prior existing methods on the treatment of anger-related disorders as well as anger management, including mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy. At the cognitive level, our review that anger is associated with excessive attention to anger-related stimuli and impulsivity. At the neural level, anger is associated with abnormal functioning of the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. In conclusions, based on cognitive and neural studies, we here argue that mindfulness based cognitive behavioural therapy may be better at reducing anger and aggression than other behavioural treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy or mindfulness alone. We provide key information on future research work and best ways to manage anger and reduce aggression. Importantly, future research should investigate how anger related behaviours is acquired and how stress impacts the development of anger.

It has been known for several decades that serotonergic neurotransmission is a key regulator of cognitive function, mood, and sleep. Yet with the relatively recent discoveries of novel serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtypes, as well as an expanding knowledge of their expression level in certain brain regions and localization on certain cell types, their involvement in cognitive processes is still emerging. Of particular interest are cognitive processes impacted in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is critical to normal cognitive processes, including attention, impulsivity, planning, decision-making, working memory, and learning or recall of learned memories. Furthermore, serotonergic dysregulation within the PFC is implicated in many neuropsychiatric disorders associated with prominent symptoms of cognitive dysfunction. Thus, it is important to better understand the overall makeup of serotonergic receptors in the PFC and on which cell types these receptors mediate their actions. In this Review, we focus on 5-HT receptor expression patterns within the PFC and how they influence cognitive behavior and neurotransmission. We further discuss the net effects of vortioxetine, an antidepressant acting through multiple serotonergic targets given the recent findings that vortioxetine improves cognition by modulating multiple neurotransmitter systems.