Psychiatric risk implications from behavioral and neural effects of adolescent exposure to environmental insecticides: a systematic review of rodent studies

Michelle X Chen; Benjamin Hing; Robert J Taylor; Hanna E Stevens

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.05.003

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Psychiatric risk implications from behavioral and neural effects of adolescent exposure to environmental insecticides: a systematic review of rodent studies

Journal article

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Psychiatric risk implications from behavioral and neural effects of adolescent exposure to environmental insecticides: a systematic review of rodent studies

Michelle X Chen, Benjamin Hing, Robert J Taylor and Hanna E Stevens

Biological psychiatry (1969)

05/15/2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.05.003

PMCID: PMC13216887

PMID: 42142799

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Abstract

Adolescence is a sensitive neurodevelopmental period marked by remodeling of brain circuits that support cognitive development and emotion and behavior regulation. These maturation processes heighten psychiatric vulnerability to environmental exposures, including to toxicants such as insecticides. Epidemiological studies show widespread adolescent insecticide exposure and increasingly link this with psychiatric outcomes, yet underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. Preclinical studies can clarify these associations and identify insecticide-induced mechanisms that may disrupt neurodevelopment and produce consequent long-term behavioral outcomes. Here, we performed a systematic review of rodent studies following PRISMA guidelines. 50 articles met inclusion criteria, examining neurotoxic outcomes following insecticide exposure during early (juvenile), middle, and late adolescent ages (postnatal days 21-60). Outcomes were categorized into four domains: neurocognitive, neuropsychiatric, neurobiological, and general neurotoxicity. Risk of bias was assessed using the SYRCLE Risk of Bias tool. Across studies, adolescent insecticide exposure led to learning and memory impairments and tended to increase depression-relevant behaviors, alter locomotor activity, and produce general neurotoxic effects. Mechanistic findings highlighted disruptions in cholinergic and monoaminergic signaling, oxidative stress, neuroimmune changes, and cell death and other neurodegenerative processes. Together, findings indicate adolescent insecticide exposure disrupts multiple neural systems with behavioral consequences relevant to adolescent development and psychiatric risk. Future research should model real-world exposures (e.g. dose, timing) to better inform translational understanding of adolescent psychiatric vulnerability. Because many life-long neuropsychiatric disorders emerge in adolescence, identifying how modifiable environmental exposures shape risk offers an opportunity for prevention and intervention strategies to alter the course of disease across the lifespan.

Mental Health

adolescence

psychiatric risk

insecticides

environmental toxicants

rodent models

Details

Title: Subtitle: Psychiatric risk implications from behavioral and neural effects of adolescent exposure to environmental insecticides: a systematic review of rodent studies
Creators: Michelle X Chen - University of Iowa
Benjamin Hing - University of Iowa, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Robert J Taylor - University of Iowa
Hanna E Stevens - University of Iowa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Biological psychiatry (1969)
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.05.003
PMID: 42142799
PMCID: PMC13216887
NLM abbreviation: Biol Psychiatry
ISSN: 0006-3223
eISSN: 1873-2402
Publisher: Elsevier
Grant note: T32 NS007421 / NINDS NIH HHS P30 ES005605 / NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES035696 / NIEHS NIH HHS
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 05/15/2026
Academic Unit: Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9985164631802771

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