Is A Genetic Diathesis For Poor Nutrition Becoming More Crucial Due To The Uniformity Of Covid Social Stress?

Authors

M. Catherine DeSoto

Comments

First published in Nutrients, v15 i4 (2023) published by MDPI. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15040960

Document Type

Editorial

Publication Version

Published Version

Keywords

COVID, depression, gene–environment correlation, heritability, nutrition

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Nutrients

Volume

15

Issue

4

Abstract

The important role of nutrition in proper neural functioning and mental health has seen wider acceptance, but is still sadly under recognized given the existent body of research. This Special Issue was designed to unite authoritative information on this topic in one volume. This editorial provides an overview of the issue, and suggests that the combination of social isolation, lack of exercise, and remaining indoors that overtook industrialized societies during 2020 are specific factors expected to change the Gene × Environment interactions for anxiety and depression. Importantly, the recent environmental changes may make biological diatheses for nutritional deficiencies even more problematic. The concept of G × E interaction is dissected to clarify a non-intuitive scenario: heritability may increase, even when a sharp increase in prevalence is entirely the result of an environmental change (e.g., COVID anxiety and isolation). Key research is highlighted, specific genetic examples are noted, and theoretical implications regarding natural selection are discussed.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

2-1-2023

Object Description

1 PDF File

DOI of published version

10.3390/nu15040960

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Date Digital

2023

Copyright

©2023 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

DeSoto, M. Catherine, "Is A Genetic Diathesis For Poor Nutrition Becoming More Crucial Due To The Uniformity Of Covid Social Stress?" (2023). Faculty Publications. 5389.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/5389