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Neurobiology of Suicide

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Book cover Suicide Prevention

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, suicide rates have been increasing worldwide. Although the prognosis of suicide is complex, key psychosocial factors have been recognized to help identify identify individuals who may be at high risk. Nevertheless, a gap in research still exists between identifying high risk individuals and predicting when suicidal ideation and behavior will evlolve into a suicide attempt. The focus of this chapter is place on the most recent, relevant studies concerning the neurobiological findings in patients with suicidal behavior or after a suicide attempt. The convergence evidence for the role of the blood-brain barrier in the pathophysiology of suicide is described, as well as the role of several inflammatory markers and neurotropic factors.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Epilepsy Center/Psychiatry Department, Neurological Institute - Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

      Tatiana Falcone M.D., M.P.H

    2. Neurologic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

      Migle Staniskyte B.A.

    3. Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

      Fernando Espi Forcen M.D., Ph.D.

    4. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia

      Jaime Vengoechea M.D.

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    3. Fernando Espi Forcen M.D., Ph.D.
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    4. Jaime Vengoechea M.D.
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    Correspondence to Tatiana Falcone M.D., M.P.H .

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    1. Epilepsy Center/ Psychiatry Department, Neurological Institute - Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

      Tatiana Falcone

    2. Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Sciences School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

      Jane Timmons-Mitchell

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    Falcone, T., Staniskyte, M., Forcen, F.E., Vengoechea, J. (2018). Neurobiology of Suicide. In: Falcone, T., Timmons-Mitchell, J. (eds) Suicide Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74391-2_1

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