Abstract
China is now playing an increasingly important role in life sciences, including biological psychiatry. In this article, we firstly gave a brief introduction to the history of biological psychiatry in China, with a focus on the past 40-year development. We secondly discussed the current status of biological psychiatry research in China, including the financial and manpower investment and the scientific output. We particularly reviewed the contributions of the Chinese scientists to the field of neuroimaging, basic neuroscience, and clinical application studies of psychiatric disorders. We thirdly discussed the opportunities and challenges of biological psychiatry research in China in the future. We claimed that China is promising in the biological research of psychiatry, based on its abundant patient and research intellect resource, advanced higher primate research, treasurable traditional Chinese medicine, and the promising China Brain Project. However, we also pointed out that China is faced with increasing concerns on the research quality, research integrity and ethical risks in this field, which call for effective actions from Chinese policymakers, researchers, and the public. Despite these concerns, we believe that China is expected to exert greater influence in biological psychiatry in the future.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Abbott R, Lavretsky H. Tai Chi and Qigong for the treatment and prevention of mental disorders. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2013;36:109–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2013.01.011.
Amorim D, Amado J, Brito I, Fiuza SM, Amorim N, Costeira C, Machado J. Acupuncture and electroacupuncture for anxiety disorders: a systematic review of the clinical research. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2018;31:31–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.01.008.
Bennett AE. Biological psychiatry. Am J Psychiatry. 1953;110:244–52. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.110.4.244.
Bogdan R, et al. Imaging genetics and genomics in psychiatry: a critical review of progress and potential. Biol Psychiatry. 2017;82:165–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.12.030.
Brainard J, You J. What a massive database of retracted papers reveals about science publishing’s ‘death penalty’. Science. 2018. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/what-massive-database-retracted-papers-reveals-about-science-publishing-s-death-penalty
Chen Y. A 2000-year history of psychiatry in China. J Psychiatry. 2015;28:464–6.
Chen C, et al. The transcription factor POU3F2 regulates a gene coexpression network in brain tissue from patients with psychiatric disorders. Sci Transl Med. 2018;10. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aat8178.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Collection of Mental Health Policy research reports. Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House; 2008.
Chinese Society of Psychiatry. The 16th annual conference of the Chinese Society of Psychiatry. Chinese Society of Psychiatry. 2018. http://www.jswscn.net/index.aspx
Cui X, Rockett IR, Yang T, Cao R. Work stress, life stress, and smoking among rural-urban migrant workers in China. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:979. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-979.
Cui Z, Zhong S, Xu P, He Y, Gong G. PANDA: a pipeline toolbox for analyzing brain diffusion images. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:42. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00042.
Cyranoski D. China launches primate centre to broaden medical use of monkeys. Nature. 2003;424:239–40. https://doi.org/10.1038/424239a.
Cyranoski D, Ledford H. Genome-edited baby claim provokes international outcry. Springer-Nature. 2018. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07545-0
Dong B, et al. The efficacy of acupuncture for treating depression-related insomnia compared with a control group: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:9614810. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/9614810.
Feng DD, et al. Nine traditional Chinese herbal formulas for the treatment of depression: an ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology review. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2016;12:2387–402. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S114560.
Ferguson C. BioMed Central retracting 43 papers for fake peer review. 2015. https://retractionwatch.com/2015/03/26/biomed-central-retracting-43-papers-for-fake-peer-review/
Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M. Tai chi/yoga effects on anxiety, heartrate, EEG and math computations. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2010;16:235–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2010.05.014.
General Office of the CPC Central Committee, General Office of the State Council. Several viewpoints on further strengthening research integrity building. Beijing: General Office of the CPC Central Committee, General Office of the State Council; 2018.
Germeroth LJ, Carpenter MJ, Baker NL, Froeliger B, LaRowe SD, Saladin ME. Effect of a brief memory updating intervention on smoking behavior. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017;74:214. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.3148.
Goyata SL, Avelino CC, Santos SV, Souza Junior DI, Gurgel MD, Terra Fde S. Effects from acupuncture in treating anxiety: integrative review. Rev Bras Enferm. 2016;69:602–9. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167.2016690325i.
Guo T, et al. Measurement-based care versus standard care for major depression: a randomized controlled trial with blind raters. Am J Psychiatry. 2015;172:1004–13. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.14050652.
He J. Strive to create a new situation for mental health work Chinese. Ment Health J. 1987;1:52–8.
He Y, Chen ZJ, Evans AC. Small-world anatomical networks in the human brain revealed by cortical thickness from MRI. Cereb Cortex. 2007;17:2407–19. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhl149.
Lacasse JR, Leo J. Serotonin and depression: a disconnect between the advertisements and the scientific literature. PLoS Med. 2005;2:e392. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392.
Li Y. Chinese surgeon defends ‘world’s first’ head transplant. People’s Daily Online. 2017. http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/1120/c90000-9294637.html
Li K, et al. betaCaMKII in lateral habenula mediates core symptoms of depression. Science. 2013;341:1016–20. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1240729.
Li M, et al. Allelic differences between Europeans and Chinese for CREB1 SNPs and their implications in gene expression regulation, hippocampal structure and function, and bipolar disorder susceptibility. Mol Psychiatry. 2014;19:452–61. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2013.37.
Li S, Zhong W, Peng W, Jiang G. Effectiveness of acupuncture in postpartum depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupunct Med. 2018;36:295–301. https://doi.org/10.1136/acupmed-2017-011530.
Liu X. Psychiatry in traditional Chinese medicine. Br J Psychiatry. 1981;138:429–33. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.138.5.429.
Liu Y, Mimura K, Wang L, Ikuda K. Physiological benefits of 24-style Taijiquan exercise in middle-aged women. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2003;22: 219–25.
Liu W, Liang X, Gong J, Yang Z, Zhang YH, Zhang JX, Rao Y. Social regulation of aggression by pheromonal activation of Or65a olfactory neurons in Drosophila. Nat Neurosci. 2011a;14:896–902. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2836.
Liu Y, Jiang Y, Si Y, Kim JY, Chen ZF, Rao Y. Molecular regulation of sexual preference revealed by genetic studies of 5-HT in the brains of male mice. Nature. 2011b;472:95–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09822.
Liu L, Liu C, Wang Y, Wang P, Li Y, Li B. Herbal medicine for anxiety, depression and insomnia. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2015a;13:481–93.
Liu X, Clark J, Siskind D, Williams GM, Byrne G, Yang JL, Doi SA. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of Qigong and Tai Chi for depressive symptoms. Complement Ther Med. 2015b;23: 516–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2015.05.001.
Liu C, et al. Psychiatric genetics in China: achievements and challenges. Mol Psychiatry. 2016a;21:4–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2015.95.
Liu Z, et al. Autism-like behaviours and germline transmission in transgenic monkeys overexpressing MeCP2. Nature. 2016b;530:98–102. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16533.
Liu B, Liu J, Wang M, Zhang Y, Li L. From serotonin to neuroplasticity: evolvement of theories for major depressive disorder. Front Cell Neurosci. 2017;11: 305. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2017.00305.
Liu Z, et al. Cloning of macaque monkeys by somatic cell nuclear transfer. Cell. 2018;172:881–7.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.01.020.
Liu Z, et al. Cloning of a gene-edited macaque monkey by somatic cell nuclear transfer. Natl Sci Rev. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwz003.
Lui S, et al. Association of cerebral deficits with clinical symptoms in antipsychotic-naive first-episode schizophrenia: an optimized voxel-based morphometry and resting state functional connectivity study. Am J Psychiatry. 2009;166:196–205. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08020183.
Lui S, Zhou XJ, Sweeney JA, Gong Q. Psychoradiology: the frontier of neuroimaging in psychiatry. Radiology. 2016;281:357–72. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2016152149.
Ma Y, Cai J. The 30-year development of neurobiological studies of primates in Kunming Zoology Institute: a brief introduction. Zool Res. 2010;31:110–2.
Ma N, et al. White matter abnormalities in first-episode, treatment-naive young adults with major depressive disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2007;164:823–6. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.2007.164.5.823.
McCook A. Springer, BMC retracting nearly 60 papers for fake reviews and other issues. 2016. https://retractionwatch.com/2016/11/01/springer-bmc-retracting-nearly-60-papers-for-fake-reviews-and-other-issues/
Meng Q, et al. The DGCR5 long noncoding RNA may regulate expression of several schizophrenia-related genes. Sci Transl Med. 2018;10. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aat6912.
Mo G. History of psychiatry in Canton: a review. Chin J Neuropsychiatry. 1995;28:141.
Moncrieff J. A critique of the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia and psychosis. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2009;17:214–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10673220902979896.
Park J, et al. The status and future of acupuncture clinical research. J Altern Complement Med. 2008;14:871–81. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2008.SAR-4.
Phillips MR, et al. Prevalence, treatment, and associated disability of mental disorders in four provinces in China during 2001–05: an epidemiological survey. Lancet. 2009;373:2041–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60660-7.
Poo MM, Du JL, Ip NY, Xiong ZQ, Xu B, Tan T. China Brain Project: basic neuroscience, brain diseases, and brain-inspired computing. Neuron. 2016;92:591–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.050.
Qiu P, et al. BMAL1 knockout macaque monkeys display reduced sleep and psychiatric disorders. Natl Sci Rev. 2019;6:87. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwz002.
Shorter E. A history of psychiatry: from the era of the asylum to the age of Prozac. New York: Wiley; 1997.
Si T, Shi S. Report on the 14th annual national conference of Chinese society of psychiatry Chinese. J Psychiatry. 2016;49:420–1.
Song XW, et al. REST: a toolkit for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data processing. PLoS One. 2011;6:e25031. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025031.
Stigbrand T. Retraction note to multiple articles in tumor biology. Tumour Biol. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-017-5487-6.
Stub T, Alræk T, Liu J. Acupuncture treatment for depression – a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Integr Med. 2011;3:e259–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2011.09.003.
Sun D, Li X. Social history of the mental health treatment in China: premise, current situation and social. Cogn J Yan’an Univ (Soc Sci Ed). 2018;40:121–8.
Tao H, Guo S, Ge T, Kendrick KM, Xue Z, Liu Z, Feng J. Depression uncouples brain hate circuit. Mol Psychiatry. 2013;18:101–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.127.
The Lancet. China’s medical research integrity questioned. Lancet. 2015;385:1365. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(15)60700-0.
Waheed SH, et al. Reporting of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging preprocessing methodologies. Brain Connect. 2016;6:663–8. https://doi.org/10.1089/brain.2016.0446.
Walter H. The third wave of biological psychiatry. Front Psychol. 2013;4:582. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00582.
Wang K. Zhenzhizhunsheng. Shanghai: Science & Technology Publishing House; 1962.
Wang Y, Miao L. Annual report on the development of Chinese students studying abroad. No. 6. In: Wang Y, Miao L, editors. Blue book of global talent. Beijing: Social Science Academic Press; 2017.
Wang H, Qi H, Wang BS, Cui YY, Zhu L, Rong ZX, Chen HZ. Is acupuncture beneficial in depression: a meta-analysis of 8 randomized controlled trials? J Affect Disord. 2008;111:125–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2008.04.020.
Wang J, et al. Parcellation-dependent small-world brain functional networks: a resting-state fMRI study. Hum Brain Mapp. 2009;30:1511–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20623.
Wang C, Bannuru R, Ramel J, Kupelnick B, Scott T, Schmid CH. Tai Chi on psychological well-being: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010;10:23. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-10-23.
Wang F, Zhu J, Zhu H, Zhang Q, Lin Z, Hu H. Bidirectional control of social hierarchy by synaptic efficacy in medial prefrontal cortex. Science. 2011;334:693–7. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1209951.
Wang J, Wang X, Xia M, Liao X, Evans A, He Y. GRETNA: a graph theoretical network analysis toolbox for imaging connectomics. Front Hum Neurosci. 2015;9:386. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00386.
Wang Q, Li D, Hao Y, He X, Gao J. Development of General Funding Program in NSFC from 1986 to 2016. Bull Natl Nat Sci Found China. 2018a;32:150–5.
Wang Q, et al. Effect of damaging rare mutations in synapse-related gene sets on response to short-term antipsychotic medication in Chinese patients with schizophrenia: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018b;75:1261–9. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.3039.
Wee S-L, Chen E. In China, gene-edited babies are the latest in a string of ethical dilemmas. New York Times. 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/world/asia/gene-editing-babies-china.html?_ga=2.42515360.483423142.1549249637-2045974499.1549249637
Wolpe PR. Ahead of our time: why head transplantation is ethically unsupportable. AJOB Neurosci. 2017;8: 206–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2017.1392386.
Wu R-R, et al. Lifestyle intervention and metformin for treatment of antipsychotic-induced weight gain. JAMA. 2008;299:185. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2007.56-b.
Wu R-R, et al. Metformin for treatment of antipsychotic-induced amenorrhea and weight gain in women with first-episode schizophrenia: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Am J Psychiatry. 2012;169:813–21. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.11091432.
Xia M, Wang J, He Y. BrainNet Viewer: a network visualization tool for human brain connectomics. PLoS One. 2013;8:e68910. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068910.
Xia M, et al. Reproducibility of functional brain alterations in major depressive disorder: evidence from a multisite resting-state functional MRI study with 1,434 individuals. Neuroimage. 2019;189:700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.074.
Xie Y, Zhang C, Lai Q. China’s rise as a major contributor to science and technology. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014;111:9437–42. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1407709111.
Xu T. Psychiatry in China: a 40-year history. Shanghai Arch Psychiatry. 1989;1:7–9.
Xu T. History of modern psychiatry in China Chinese. J Neuropsychiatry. 1995;28:168–76.
Xue YX, et al. A memory retrieval-extinction procedure to prevent drug craving and relapse. Science. 2012; 336:241–5. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215070.
Xue YX, et al. Effect of selective inhibition of reactivated nicotine-associated memories with propranolol on nicotine craving. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017;74:224–32. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.3907.
Yan CG, Wang XD, Zuo XN, Zang YF. DPABI: data processing & analysis for (resting-state) brain imaging. Neuroinformatics. 2016;14:339–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-016-9299-4.
Yang H, et al. Amplitude of low frequency fluctuation within visual areas revealed by resting-state functional MRI. Neuroimage. 2007;36:144–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.01.054.
Yang N, et al. Chinese Color Nest Project: growing up in China. Chin Sci Bull. 2017;62:3008–22. https://doi.org/10.1360/n972017-00362.
Yang Y, Cui Y, Sang K, Dong Y, Ni Z, Ma S, Hu H. Ketamine blocks bursting in the lateral habenula to rapidly relieve depression. Nature. 2018;554:317–22. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25509.
Young D. Development of diagnosis and classification system of mental disorders in China: history and current status. Shanghai Arch Psychiatry. 1989;1:10–2.
Yu H, et al. Five novel loci associated with antipsychotic treatment response in patients with schizophrenia: a genome-wide association study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5:327–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30049-X.
Zang Y, Jiang T, Lu Y, He Y, Tian L. Regional homogeneity approach to fMRI data analysis. Neuroimage. 2004;22:394–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.12.030.
Zhang W. Epidemiological survey of mental disorders in 12 areas of China. Med Res Commun. 1986;19:65–69.
Zhang W, et al. Epidemiological investigation on mental disorders in 7 areas of China Chinese. J Psychiatry. 1998;2:6–8.
Zhang S, Liu Y, Rao Y. Serotonin signaling in the brain of adult female mice is required for sexual preference. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2013;110:9968–73. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1220712110.
Zhang XL, Pang W, Hu XT, Li JL, Yao YG, Zheng YT. Experimental primates and non-human primate (NHP) models of human diseases in China: current status and progress. Dongwuxue Yanjiu. 2014;35:447–64. https://doi.org/10.13918/j.issn.2095-8137.2014.6.447.
Zhou C, Rao Y, Rao Y. A subset of octopaminergic neurons are important for Drosophila aggression. Nat Neurosci. 2008;11:1059–67. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2164.
Zhou X, et al. Polyunsaturated fatty acids metabolism, purine metabolism and inosine as potential independent diagnostic biomarkers for major depressive disorder in children and adolescents. Mol Psychiatry. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0047-z.
Zou Q-H, et al. An improved approach to detection of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) for resting-state fMRI: fractional ALFF. J Neurosci Methods. 2008;172:137–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2008.04.012.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Liu, B., Li, L. (2019). China’s Role in the Biological Psychiatry Research. In: Okpaku, S. (eds) Innovations in Global Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70134-9_100-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70134-9_100-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-70134-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-70134-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine