Mitochondrial abnormalities in psychological disorders

Abstract Mental disorders are regarded as the most significant challenge to individuals and health care systems, imposing a considerable economic burden. Nonetheless, the exact pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders remains unknown, justifying the lack of diagnostic tests and effective treatments. Considering the central focus on mitochondria within precision medicine, investigating abnormalities given mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), calcium metabolism, respiration chain, oxidative stress, and apoptotic pathways within psychiatric disorders may shine the light upon remarkable progress in the context of psychology. This chapter presents comprehensive information about the issue above, mainly focusing on autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and stress-related disorders. While the role of oxidative stress was evaluated in almost all diseases, other aspects of mitochondrial abnormalities have not been well investigated. Since most recent, accurate data were gathered through postmortem studies, obtaining practical methods to rule out postmortem-related factors and finding alternative noninvasive techniques to study the living human brain is essential. There is also an unmet need to look into mitochondrial abnormalities within overlooked mental disorders.