PALS is a network of international academic centers that have come together to transform windows of vulnerability to mental and physical disorders into windows of neuroscientific advancement with diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Vulnerability can result from genetic factors, social adversity, environmental exposures and lifestyle choices. These risk factors interact to increase allostatic load which, in turn, may contribute in the development of brain-based psychopathology (eg. cognitive impairment, depressive disorders, dementia), resulting from and interacting reciprocally with somatic pathology (eg. obesity, Type II diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome).
The aims of PALS are:
To achieve these aims, PALS will initially focus on:
As such, the overarching goal of PALS is to increase the understanding of how brain and body dysfunction interact in important and highly prevalent human diseases.
Please explore the three tabs located in the left sidebar to learn more about the 3Ds - depression, diabetes, and dementia.