Biological Processes and Social-Ecological Factors – BPSF
NOTE: Starts with the October 2026 Council round submission dates (Cycle I due dates). This study section was evaluated as part of CSR’s ENQUIRE process to align study sections with advances in science. Learn more about ENQUIRE.
Applications reviewed in this study section include biological measures, processes, and/or physiological outcomes within a broader social and human behavioral context and tend to focus on the identification of mechanisms linking biology and human behavior, including differences across subpopulations or the lifespan. Biological processes covered are diverse and can include, but are not limited to, inflammation, metabolomics, lipidomics, microbiome, neurocognitive, and epigenetics. This study section primarily reviews human studies at the individual level, although animal studies with an appropriate focus may also be reviewed.
Review Dates
Topics
- Bidirectional associations or interactions between metabolomics, diet, sleep, and mood.
- Studies examining mechanistic and physiological consequences of stress (or stress reduction strategies), such as changes in biological aging, cognitive disruptions, or disorders of aging.
- Resilience factors that influence the association between stress and dysregulated immune function.
- Studies examining the affective (mood and emotion), cognitive, and biological consequences of systemic stress, especially related to the socio-ecologic context.
- Behavioral studies that examine neurocognitive processes associated with addictive behaviors such as cue reactivity, impulsivity, and decision-making, especially those focusing on the integration of biological and behavioral or social factors in humans.
- The influence of a social ecology or environmental characteristics on biological processes.
- The effects of substance use or addictive behavior on biological health processes, including physiological effects of substance use and misuse, or biological health processes that affect substance use or addictive behavior.
Shared Interests and Overlaps
There are shared interests in stress and pain with Biobehavioral Medicine and Health Outcomes (BMHO). Applications that emphasize basic biological responses to stress and pain and the interplay between stress/emotion and pain are reviewed in BPSF. Applications that emphasize the psychosocial sequalae of stress and pain and approaches to manage and alleviate symptoms are reviewed in BMHO.
There are shared interests in sleep with Lifestyle and Health Behaviors (LHB) and Lifestyle Change and Behavioral Health (LCBH). Applications that focus on the interactions of sleep as an exposure related to physical and mental illness and health from a biological and mechanistic perspective, mostly using laboratory-based studies, are reviewed in BPSF. Applications that use a population-based approach to studying sleep as an exposure that affects health outcomes or sleep as a health outcome in human subpopulations from a more behavioral perspective are reviewed in LHB. Applications that emphasize sleep that contributes to health promotion and disease prevention are reviewed in LCBH.
There is shared interest in animal stress models and sleep with Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms, and Sleep (BNRS) and Neural Basis of Psychopathology, Addictions, and Sleep Disorders (NPAS). Applications involving sleep or circadian rhythms and their disorders in humans and their relation to physical or mental health are reviewed in BPSF. Animal stress models that focus predominantly on the neuroendocrine or neuroimmune mechanisms of stress or animal models of circadian rhythms and sleep, and basic mechanisms of human circadian and sleep regulation, are reviewed in BNRS. Applications that emphasize more structural and mechanistic aspects and the etiology, neural mechanisms, diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment of sleep disorders in humans are reviewed in NPAS.
There are shared interests in adult psychopathology with Adult Lifespan Psychopathology (ALP). Applications that emphasize adult psychopathology that do not involve stress mechanisms or outcomes are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize stress-responsive biological systems are involved as mechanisms or outcome measures are reviewed in BPSF. Applications that emphasize sleep or circadian rhythms and their disorders in humans and their relation to physical or mental health are also reviewed in BPSF.
There are shared interests in social/environmental processes that affect bio-behavioral outcomeswith Psychosocial Influences on Healthy Development (PIHD) and Social and Interpersonal Processes of Health Disparities (SIPH). Applications that study these processes from primarily a neurocognitive or biological perspective are reviewed in BPSF. Applications that study these factors and processes from primarily an interpersonal, social, family, and close relationship perspective are reviewed in SIPH or PIHD.
There is shared interest in substance use, addiction, and addictive behaviors with Health Promotion for Mental Health and Substance Misuse (HPMS). Applications focused on promoting healthy behavior and intervening at the individual level to prevent mental health and addictive behaviors are reviewed in HPMS. Applications focused on understanding the individual-level mechanisms underlying substance use and abuse are reviewed in BPSF, including biological, environmental, psychological, and neurocognitive factors that influence or predict the onset or trajectory of addictive behaviors.
