Sources
258 peer-reviewed sources and primary data repositories underpinning this project, grouped by theme. Meta-analyses, Mendelian-randomization studies, large cohorts and randomized trials are prioritised. Most exposure findings are observational — association, not proof of cause. Compiled from all research passes; machine-readable copy on the Data & datasets page.
Consensus, theory & methods (20)
- Moncrieff et al. — serotonin theory of depression: umbrella review (2022)Umbrella review
- Jauhar/Cowen et al. — reply to Moncrieff (36 experts, 2023)Commentary
- Rihmer et al. — serotonin & depression riposte (2022)Commentary
- TrkB in the action of antidepressants and psychedelics (2024)Review
- Mendelian randomization in depression: evidence & challenges (2023)Review
- Encompassing MR of causes & consequences of MDD (2025)MR study
- TARGET statement — reporting target-trial emulations (JAMA 2024)Guideline
- Genetic data improves target-trial emulations (Nat Genet 2025)Methods
- Negative-control outcomes to detect selection bias in MR (2026)Methods preprint
- Open science & registered reports in mental health (2024)Review
- Misaligned incentives — the case for registered reports (2024)Editorial
- Diversifying psychiatric genomics toward health equity (2025)Review
- Biologically annotated heterogeneity of depression — normative modeling (2025)Neuroimaging
- Detecting reward/affect with passive digital sensors — OPTIMA (2025)Cohort
- Smartphone EMA + wearables in pediatric depression (2025)Cohort
- Mapping the exposome of mental health — UK Biobank ExWASExWAS
- Environment & depressive symptoms — ExWAS + twin modeling (2023)ExWAS/twin
- Trans-ancestry GWAS of depression — 697 loci (Cell 2024)GWAS
- Multi-ancestry GWAS of major depression (Nat Genet 2024)GWAS
- Genomic risk prediction for depression in older adults — PGS validation (2025)Validation
Biological & immune (23)
- IL-6 signalling & depression — Mendelian randomization (2021)MR study
- Bidirectional MR of inflammatory markers & depressionMR study
- CRP, IL-6 & depression — longitudinal meta-analysisMeta-analysis
- IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α & CRP in depression — meta-analysis (2018)Meta-analysis
- IL-6 activity biomarker & outcomes in depressionCohort
- Cortisol & development of depression — meta-analysis (Zajkowska 2022)Meta-analysis
- Mitochondrial dysfunction in depression (Song 2023)Review
- BDNF in depression & neuroplasticity (Colucci-D'Amato 2020)Review
- Kynurenine pathway & microbiota-gut-brain axis (Kennedy 2016)Review
- Rapid-acting antidepressants & glutamate mechanism (2023)Review
- Cigarette smoke, lung-brain barrier & neuroinflammation — MR (2025)MR/experimental
- Neuroinflammation in MDD — comprehensive review (2025)Review
- Chronic stress, HPA-axis & neuroinflammation in the hippocampus (2025)Review
- Chronic stress, neuroinflammation & emerging anti-inflammatoriesReview
- TNF-α inhibition & MDD — drug-target MR (2026)MR study
- CRP & IL-6 on anxiety/depression — MR in HUNT (2023)MR study
- Brain region-specific roles of BDNF in stress depression (2024)Review
- BDNF & functional brain network topology in recurrent MDD (2025)Neuroimaging
- Hippocampal SorCS2 represses stress depression via BDNF-TrkB (2024)Animal study
- Kynurenine pathway dysregulation in MDD (2026)Review
- Oxidative stress markers in depression — meta-analysisMeta-analysis
- Oxidative-stress therapeutic targets for MDD — multi-omics (2024)Multi-omics
- Chronic stress, neuroinflammation & depression (Hassamal 2023)Review
Environmental & chemical (29)
- Long-term air pollution & incident depression — UK Biobank (2023)Prospective cohort
- Air pollution & mental-health service use (2022)Cohort
- Air pollution & postpartum depression (2023)Cohort
- Heavy-metal mixtures & depression — NHANES (2026)Cross-sectional
- Machine learning: metals & depression — NHANES (2025)ML cross-sectional
- Sleep mediates heavy metals → depression — NHANESCross-sectional
- PFAS & depression — NHANES 2005-2018Cross-sectional
- Combined PFAS, metals & social factors on depression (2025)Cross-sectional
- Heavy metals, PFAS & depression — epidemiology + bioinformaticsCross-sectional
- Heavy metals & PFAS mixture (antagonism) & depression — NHANES (2024)Mixture analysis
- Bioaccumulation of microplastics in human brains (Nat Med 2024)Autopsy study
- Nanoplastics → depression via EAAT2 suppression (2025)Animal study
- Nanoplastics → gut-brain serotonergic disruption (2026)Animal study
- Micro/nanoplastics & depressive-like phenotypes — systematic review (2026)Systematic review
- Microplastics & the human gut microbiome — systematic review (2025)Systematic review
- Microplastics alter human gut microbiome — UEG Week (2025)Conference/news
- Aluminium neurotoxicity & depressive behaviour (Abbas 2022)Animal study
- Neurobehavioral effects of aluminium on exposed workersOccupational
- Molecular mechanisms of aluminium neurotoxicityReview
- Aluminium in food: sources & safety (Eufic)Agency
- Pesticide exposure & depression in agricultural workers (2023)Systematic review
- Pesticide exposure/poisoning & depression — meta-analysis (2023)Meta-analysis
- Phthalate/BPA & psychosocial-stress mixtures in pregnancy (2023)Cohort
- Damp/mould housing & depression — perceived-control mediation (2007)Cross-sectional
- Damp/mould-affected housing & mental health — state-of-science (2024)Review
- GWEIS: air pollution × genes & depression/anxiety (2024)GWEIS
- Air pollution × genetic risk & cortical networks (PNAS 2021)Cohort
- PFAS disruption of thyroid hormone synthesis (2024)Mechanistic
- Cadmium-associated anxiety — proteomic signatures (2025)Proteomics
Diet, gut & metabolic (24)
- FMT for depressive symptoms — meta-analysis of 12 RCTsMeta-analysis (RCTs)
- Ultra-processed food & health — umbrella review (BMJ 2024)Umbrella review
- Ultra-processed food & mental health — meta-analysis (2022)Meta-analysis
- UPF & depressive outcomes — NutriNet Brasil + meta-analysis (2024)Meta-analysis
- SMILES dietary RCT for depression (2017)RCT
- SMILES modified-Mediterranean protocol (2017)RCT protocol
- Omega-3 for depression — 67-RCT dose-response meta-analysis (2023)Meta-analysis (RCTs)
- Probiotics & molecular markers in depression — meta-analysis (2023)Meta-analysis (RCTs)
- Psychobiotics in surgical oncology patients — RCT (2025)RCT
- Depression & metabolic syndrome — bidirectional MR (2021)MR study
- Psychiatric disorders & cardiometabolic traits — genomic review (2026)Systematic review
- Ketogenic diet for refractory mental illness — case series (2022)Case series
- Ketogenic metabolic therapy RCT protocol (2024)RCT protocol
- Micronutrient deficiencies & postpartum depression (2025)Systematic review
- Recognising depression as an inflammatory disease — endotypes (2024)Review
- Vagus nerve stimulation & gut microbiota (2025)Systematic review
- Psychobiotics & the gut-brain axis (2025)Review
- Ultra-processed foods, additives & gut health (Nat Rev Gastro Hepatol 2024)Review
- UPF & the gut microbiome/barrier (2025)Review
- Gut microbiome-gut-brain axis & depression (2024)Review
- Tryptophan/kynurenine in insomnia & comorbidities (2025)Review
- Insulin resistance in comorbid T2DM & depression (2025)Review
- Mitochondrial energy metabolism & exercise in depression (2025)Review
- Gut-liver-brain axis: microbiome, inflammation & therapeutics (2025)Review
Lifestyle, substances & sleep (29)
- Smoking, depression & inflammation — MR (2022)MR study
- Smoking behaviours & mental health — MR + genetic correlation (2021)MR study
- Tobacco smoke exposure & depression — NHANES + MRMR/cross-sectional
- Alcohol frequency & MDD — bidirectional MR (2024)MR study
- Biological-age acceleration & mental/behavioural disorders — MR (2026)MR study
- Energy drinks & mental health in young people — systematic review (2024)Systematic review
- Energy drinks, depression, insomnia & stress in adolescents (2024)Cross-sectional
- Adolescent cannabis & adult depression — 30-year cohort (2020)Cohort
- Adolescent cannabis & depression — Northern Finland Birth Cohort (2021)Cohort
- Sleep traits & brain disorders — bidirectional MR (2024)MR study
- Physical activity & depression — 2-sample MR (2019)MR study
- Exercise for depression — network meta-analysis of 218 RCTs (2024)Network meta-analysis
- Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep & MDD — MR + NHANES (2025)MR/cross-sectional
- Sedentary behaviour, activity & psychiatric disorders — MR (2024)MR study
- Screen use & adolescent depressive symptoms (2022)Cross-sectional
- ABCD: screen time, SES & mental health (2021)Cohort
- Insomnia ↔ depression — bidirectional MR (2022)MR study
- Short/long sleep duration — GWAS + MR (2023)GWAS/MR
- Exercise-related FNDC5/irisin in depression (2024)Review
- Optimal exercise modality/dose for MDD — Bayesian NMA (2024)Network meta-analysis
- Diurnal preference & mental health — MR (2021)MR study
- Artificial light at night, night-shift work, brain & metabolism (2025)Review
- taVNS, stress, HRV & inflammation (2023)Animal study
- Coffee, tea, caffeine & risk of depression — dose-response meta-analysis (Grosso 2016)Meta-analysis
- Coffee/caffeine & depression — meta-analysis of observational studies (2016)Meta-analysis
- Caffeine, anxiety & panic in panic disorder — systematic review & meta-analysis (2021)Meta-analysis
- Acute 150 mg caffeine on anxiety in panic disorder — RCT crossover (2025)RCT
- Nighttime caffeine increases motor impulsivity (2025)Experimental
- Does caffeine modulate inhibitory, impulsive or risky behaviour? — review (2017)Review
Psychosocial, developmental & global (25)
- ACEs & later mental-health problems — umbrella review (2024)Umbrella review
- ACEs & adult mental-health outcomes — meta-analysis (2025)Meta-analysis
- Type & dose-response of ACEs in depression (2023)Meta-analysis
- Childhood adversity & adult psychiatric disorder — meta-analysis (2022)Meta-analysis
- Loneliness ↔ depression — bidirectional MR (2023)MR study
- Social connection & mental/physical health (World Psychiatry 2024)Review
- Poverty & mental illness — causal evidence review (2020)Review
- Job strain as a risk factor for clinical depression — IPD meta-analysisIPD meta-analysis
- Depression & gender roles (2024)Review
- Urban green space & mental health — 18-country study (2023)Cross-national
- Food insecurity & anxiety/depression — longitudinal (2025)Longitudinal
- Digital media & child development — meta-analysis (2026)Meta-analysis
- Cultural continuity & First Nations suicide (Chandler & Lalonde)Epidemiology
- High prevalence of depression in Latin America (2024)Review
- Global Burden of Disease 2021 — depression burdenModelled estimates
- COVID-19 & global depression/anxiety burden (2021)Meta-regression
- Suicide in Indigenous populations of Latin America — systematic reviewSystematic review
- Global incidence of suicide among Indigenous peoples (2018)Systematic review
- Hidden suicides of the Indigenous people of the AmazonCohort
- Global treatment gap for depression — systematic reviewSystematic review
- Negative social ties → accelerated epigenetic aging (PNAS 2026)Cohort
- Loneliness, BDNF methylation & cortical epigenetic aging (2023)Cohort
- WHO: COVID-19 triggers 25% rise in anxiety & depression (2022)Agency
- Mental-health conditions affect 150M in Africa (WHO AFRO)Agency
- Prevalence estimates in conflict settings (WHO/Lancet)Meta-analysis
Treatment, prevention & pipeline (25)
- Comparative efficacy of 21 antidepressants — network meta-analysis (2018)Network meta-analysis
- CANMAT review — probiotics/FMT for MDD (2025)Guideline review
- Psychedelic mechanisms & antidepressant effects — review (2025)Systematic review
- Psychedelics for comorbid MDD & chronic pain — mechanism (2026)Review
- Dissociating subjective effects from therapeutic properties of psychedelics (2024)Review
- Blinding integrity in 112 psychedelic RCTs (JAMA Psychiatry 2026)Systematic review
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy — Cochrane review (2024)Cochrane review
- Placebo effects in depression & the psychedelic renaissance (2025)Review
- Addressing functional unblinding in psychedelic trials (2025)Commentary
- Anti-inflammatory treatment in elevated-inflammation depression — meta-analysis (2025)Meta-analysis
- Advancing an inflammatory subtype of major depression (2025)Perspective
- INSTA-MD: celecoxib/minocycline stratified by CRP — protocolRCT protocol
- Long-term esketamine maintenance — SUSTAIN-3 (2023)Extension study
- Anion-exchange resin reduces serum PFAS — crossover trial (2024)Clinical trial
- PFAS exposure reduction — clinical guidance (NCBI Bookshelf)Guidance
- Compass Pathways COMP360 psilocybin Phase 3 (COMP005, 2025)Phase 3 RCT
- Cybin CYB003 EMBRACE Phase 3 (NCT06793397)Phase 3 RCT
- FDA Complete Response Letter on MDMA-assisted therapy (2025)Regulatory
- Tocilizumab vs placebo in inflamed TRD (NCT07052058)RCT registration
- EXPANSE — EU urban exposome projectConsortium
- HHEAR — Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (NIEHS)Infrastructure
- DIME ketogenic-diet RCT for treatment-resistant depression (2026)RCT
- CBT-I for prevention of mental disturbances — meta-analysis (2024)Meta-analysis
- GLP-1 receptor agonists & psychiatric outcomes — review (2025)Review
- GLP-1 receptor agonists & cognitive/mental-health disorders (2025)Review
Datasets & infrastructure (18)
- UK BiobankMega-cohort
- All of Us Research Program (NIH)Mega-cohort
- NHANES (CDC)Survey
- IHME Global Burden of Disease / GHDxEstimates
- IHME GBD Results ToolEstimates
- Our World in Data — Mental HealthCurated data
- WHO Global Health ObservatoryAgency data
- ABCD Study / NBDC Data HubCohort
- FinnGen public data releasesGenetics
- PGC — download results (GWAS summary statistics)Genetics
- Million Veteran ProgramGenetics/cohort
- MoBa (Norwegian Mother, Father & Child) via HelsedataCohort
- Generation ScotlandCohort
- American Gut Project / MicrosettaMicrobiome
- ACAG satellite-derived surface PM2.5Environmental
- US EPA particulate matter (PM2.5) trendsEnvironmental
- Atlas of plasma NMR biomarkers in UK Biobank (2023)Dataset paper
- NHANES 2017-2020 PFAS data documentationDataset docs
Runnable-protocol evidence (8)
- PFAS exposure & depression — NHANES (2025)Cross-sectional
- PFAS & thyroid hormones — NHANES (2020)Cross-sectional
- PFAS & thyroid function — meta-analysis (2018)Meta-analysis
- Perinatal PFAS & depressive-like behaviour in mice (2026)Animal study
- Tryptophan/quinolinic acid in depression (2022)Review
- Major depression → NAFLD — bidirectional MR (2025)MR study
- Kynurenine → depression — two-sample MR (2024)MR study
- NHANES rest-activity rhythm metrics methodsMethods
Critique & competing paradigms (13)
- Two sides of depression: medical & social (Daedalus 2023)Essay
- Key challenges in depression phenotyping (Nature Mental Health 2026)Review
- Biologically annotated heterogeneity of depression — normative modeling (2025)Neuroimaging
- Depression & global mental health in the Global South — critical analysis (2024)Critical analysis
- Network theory of mental disordersTheory
- Network theory & environmental factors — critical assessmentTheory
- RDoC through the lens of predictive processing (2024)Review
- Active inference applied to depression & stress (2025)Review
- The matching problem for evolutionary psychiatry (2024)Philosophy
- Social determinants of mental health: evidence & prevention (2024)Review
- Impact of measurement differences on cross-country prevalenceMethods
- The psychiatrization of povertyReview
- Computational psychiatry for depression risk factors (2025)Review
Quantitative methods & PAFs (10)
- Global PAFs of modifiable risk factors for mental disorders — meta-umbrella (2022)Meta-umbrella
- Burden of depression from childhood sexual abuse, IPV & bullying — GBD 2021GBD analysis
- Maltreatment & adult depression — proportional attributable fractionsMeta-analysis
- Sensitivity analysis — introducing the E-value (VanderWeele & Ding 2017)Methods
- Pathway-specific population attributable fractionsMethods
- Negative controls: concepts and caveatsMethods
- Disease burden of MDD & risk factors in LMICs — GBD 2021GBD analysis
- Ultra-processed food & risk of depression — prospective cohortCohort
- Social/physical inactivity & depression — bidirectional MRMR study
- Ambient air pollution & mental health — MR + colocalization (2024)MR study
Medical & hormonal causes (11)
- PMDD — DASH-MC hormone-sensitivity framework (2024)Review
- Neuroinflammation in PMDD (2025)Review
- Polycystic ovary syndrome — disease primer (2024)Review
- Hypothyroidism — review (2019)Review
- Post-stroke depression — mechanisms (2018)Review
- Long COVID neuropsychiatric burden (2024)Review
- Neuropsychiatric complications of COVID-19 (2021)Review
- Long COVID brain inflammation mechanisms (2025)Review
- Psychiatric symptoms of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitisCase series/review
- Isotretinoin neuropsychiatric adverse events — EudraVigilance 2005-2025Pharmacovigilance
- Hormonal contraceptives & risk for depression/suicide (MGH summary)Cohort summary
Prevention, treatment & precision (14)
- Whole-body hyperthermia for depression — RCT / IL-6 mechanism (2024)RCT
- Meaning in life & all-cause mortality — UK Biobank (2024)Cohort
- Bright light therapy for non-seasonal depression — meta-analysisMeta-analysis
- HRV biofeedback for mental health — systematic review & meta-analysisMeta-analysis
- Friendship Bench — lay-counsellor therapy RCT, Zimbabwe (2016)RCT
- Healthy Activity Program — lay-counsellor RCT, India (2017)RCT
- Healthy Activity Program — sustained effectivenessRCT follow-up
- Nature prescriptions for mental & cardiometabolic health (2023)Systematic review
- WHO mhGAP implementation — systematic reviewSystematic review
- School anti-bullying interventions — meta-analysis (2021)Meta-analysis
- Anti-bullying — what works for whom (IPD meta-analysis 2023)IPD meta-analysis
- Brain-circuit biotypes for treatment selection (2024)Neuroimaging
- Cost-effectiveness of preventing depression in youth (2019)Economic evaluation
- Cost-effectiveness of mental-health prevention & promotion (2021)Systematic review
Burden, trends & economics (9)
- Trends in prevalent cases & DALYs of depression 1990-2021 (GBD)GBD analysis
- GBD 2021: mental health messages (Lancet Psychiatry 2024)Editorial
- Scaling-up treatment of depression & anxiety — ROI analysis (2016)Economic analysis
- Economic burden of adults with MDD in the US (2019)Economic analysis
- Minimally adequate treatment for MDD — 204 countries (2024)Service coverage
- Age of onset of mental disorders — 29 countries (2023)Cross-national
- Accelerated global burden of depression during COVID-19, 2019-2021GBD analysis
- WHO: investing in depression/anxiety treatment yields fourfold return (2016)Agency
- Depression & anxiety among US children & young adults (2024)Review