Selected contributions to global health neurology and psychiatry from JoGH group journals in 2024

The papers in neurology and psychiatry published in the JoGH group of journals in 2024 reflect a field that is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary and ambitious. Compared with previous years, a distinctive feature of 2024 is the simultaneous deepening of methodological critique and the broadening of the field’s intellectual horizons. There are papers ranging from philosophical reflections on cognition to detailed analyses of social, environmental, and technological determinants of mental and neurological health.

A central theme was the continued quantification and mapping of neurological and psychiatric burden. Studies on restless legs syndrome prevalence, cognitive impairment risk clustering, and trends in dementia across Asian populations illustrate a sustained commitment to understanding the scale and distribution of brain-related conditions. Importantly, these analyses moved beyond simple prevalence estimates toward identifying heterogeneity within populations, using techniques such as data-driven clustering and latent profile analysis. This suggests a shift toward more precise population stratification, which may ultimately enable better-targeted interventions.

Closely linked to this was a strong emphasis on ageing, cognitive decline, and dementia. Multiple studies examined cognitive impairment through different lenses: sensory impairments as risk factors, widowhood and social engagement as mediators, environmental exposures such as air pollution, and structural determinants such as dementia literacy among community doctors. Together, these papers reinforce the idea that cognitive decline may not be a biological inevitability, but rather a complex outcome shaped by social isolation, environmental risk, health system capacity, and knowledge gaps. The prominence of this theme reflects global demographic transitions and positions cognitive health as one of the defining challenges for health systems in the coming years.

A second major theme was the embedding of mental health within broader social and economic systems. Several studies highlighted how structural and contextual factors shape mental well-being. The cluster-randomised trial on access to affordable daycare in India demonstrated measurable mental health benefits for women, illustrating how social policy interventions can act as mental health interventions. Similarly, analyses of violence and youth mental health across multiple countries, socioeconomic inequalities in internet use and depression, and trajectories of perinatal depression among women living with HIV all underscore the importance of social determinants. These studies collectively argue for a reframing of mental health as an outcome of lived social realities.

Environmental determinants also emerged more prominently in 2024. The analysis of air pollution and cognitive function, along with estimates of years of life lost due to insufficient sleep and their economic burden, signal a growing recognition that modern environments, such as urban, digital, and polluted ones, are shaping brain health at scale. This aligns with a broader shift in global health toward planetary and environmental perspectives, now increasingly extended to global health research in neurology and psychiatry.

Another key theme was intervention and innovation, with a notable diversification of approaches. Community-based psychodrama interventions in Mozambique, institutional quality improvement initiatives for metabolic monitoring in patients on antipsychotics, and the use of wearable technologies such as the Apple Watch for mental health tracking all illustrate the expanding toolkit of mental health care. These approaches range from low-cost, culturally embedded interventions to technologically advanced monitoring systems, reflecting both the constraints and opportunities of different settings. Importantly, many of these studies emphasised scalability and real-world applicability.

The long-term neuropsychiatric consequences of COVID-19 remained an important focus, but the discourse has clearly evolved. Rather than documenting acute distress, studies in 2024 examined persistent neuropsychological deficits following infection, broader conceptual reflections on mental health in the context of the pandemic, and large-scale assessments of fear across multiple countries. This indicates a transition toward understanding the pandemic’s lasting cognitive and psychological imprint, as well as its societal and existential dimensions.

A particularly distinctive feature of the 2024 output was its engagement with methodological and epistemological questions. The debate surrounding orthorexia nervosa was one of the most interesting exchanges that the JoGH group of journals published this year. The discussion evolved around whether research based on imperfect or invalid measures can still yield useful insights, highlighting a field grappling with its own measurement limitations. Similarly, the development and validation of new tools, such as the Early Learning Tool for young children in rural Pakistan, point to efforts to improve measurement in underrepresented settings. This dual focus on critique and innovation is essential for strengthening the scientific foundations of global mental health research.

Finally, the inclusion of more conceptual and philosophical contributions, such as the editorial proposing the brain’s perception of ideas as an underappreciated human sense, signals an openness to rethinking fundamental assumptions about cognition. While such contributions may sit outside traditional empirical frameworks, they enrich the field by encouraging new ways of conceptualising mental processes.

The output of the JoGH group of journals in 2024 demonstrated the value of integrating epidemiology, intervention research, social science, environmental health, and methodological critique within a single discourse. It highlighted the importance of addressing ageing, inequality, and environmental change, while also embracing technological innovation. It also showed that a field that is increasingly willing to question its own tools and assumptions, suggesting a maturation that will be critical for advancing neurology and psychiatry within global health in the years to come. Below, we present our selection of these contributions, listed in reverse chronological order of publication:

• Rudan I. Editor’s view: Is the brain’s perception of ideas an underappreciated human sense? J Glob Health. 2024 Dec 6;14:01002.

• López-Gil JF, Tárraga-López PJ, Hershey MS, López-Bueno R, Gutiérrez-Espinoza H, Soler-Marín A, Fernández-Montero A, Victoria-Montesinos D. Orthorexia nervosa: Why research based on imperfect measures may still be useful. J Glob Health. 2024 Dec 6;14:03053.

• Liu S, Qin T, Kikkawa DO, Lu W. All-cause and cardiovascular mortality in dual sensory impairment patients: A meta-analysis of cohort studies. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 29;14:04258.

• Hentschel E, Siyal S, Al Sager A, McCoy DC, Yousafzai AK. The development and validity of the Early Learning Tool for children 0-3-year-old in rural Pakistan. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 22;14:04241.

• Pearlman J, Morgan H, Opondo C, Amollo M, Cuartas J, Bhatia A. Does work modify the relationship between violence and mental health among young people? Evidence from the Violence Against Children Surveys in Uganda, Nigeria and Colombia. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 22;14:04232.

• Qiu S, Zhao M, Zhang H, Li T, Kuang W, Liu S, Sun Y, Wang M, Xie H, Yu E, Yu X, Wang H. Heterogeneity in the level of dementia literacy among community doctors in China: A latent profile analysis. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 15;14:04161.

• Islam B, Li T, Xu M, Yang D, Lv H, Gassara G, Ibrahim TI, Radman BA, Wang J. Emerging trends in cognitive impairment and dementia among older populations in Asia: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 8;14:04233.

• Nandi A, Agarwal P, Chandrashekar A, Maloney S, Richardson R, Thakur L, Harper S. Access to affordable daycare and women’s mental health in Rajasthan, India: Evidence from a cluster-randomised social intervention. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 8;14:04063.

• Chen Y, Dong Y, Zhang Y, Xia D, Wang Y, Wang Y, Cai Y, Hu F. Effects of major air pollutants on cognitive function in middle-aged and elderly adults: Panel data evidence from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 8;14:04153.

• Yang C, Zhang Y, Li H, Ji X, Wang H, Lv X. Sensory impairments associated with cognitive impairment among older adults in China: A community-based, 10-year prospective cohort study. J Glob Health. 2024 Oct 4;14:04175.

• McBain RK, Schuler MS, Rukundo T, Wanyenze RK, Wagner GJ. Trajectories of perinatal depression among women living with HIV in Uganda. J Glob Health. 2024 Sep 20;14:04147.

• Sheng M, Young K, Li Y, Zhang Y, Wang J, Jiang S. The influence of widowhood and social engagement on cognitive impairment among Chinese older adults and factors mediating their association. J Glob Health. 2024 Sep 20;14:04193.

• Wang T, Zhang S, Li Q, Liu H, Zhang S, Jian W, Guo J. Socioeconomic inequalities in the relationship between internet usage patterns and depressive symptoms: Evidence from a Chinese longitudinal study. J Glob Health. 2024 Aug 16;14:04127.

• Benoni R, Malesani C, Sartorello A, Cardoso H, Chaguruca I, Alamo C, Putoto G, Brigadoi G, Zin A, Donà D, Giaquinto C, Gatta M. Assessing the impact of a community-based psychodrama intervention on mental health promotion of adolescents and young adults in Mozambique: A mixed-methods study. J Glob Health. 2024 Jul 26;14:04182.

• Li J, Pandian V, Fong DYT, Lok KYW, Wong JYH, Man Ho M, Choi EPH, Davidson PM, Duan W, Tarrant M, Lee JJ, Lin CC, Akingbade O, Alabdulwahhab KM, Ahmad MS, Alboraie M, Alzahrani MA, Bilimale AS, Boonpatcharanon S, Byiringiro S, Hasan MKC, Schettini LC, Corzo W, De Leon JM, De Leon AS, Deek H, Efficace F, El Nayal MA, El-Raey F, Ensaldo-Carrasco E, Escotorin P, Fadodun OA, Fawole IO, Goh YS, Irawan D, Khan NE, Koirala B, Krishna A, Kwok C, Le TT, Leal DG, Lezana-Fernández MÁ, Manirambona E, Mantoani LC, Meneses-González F, Mohamed IE, Mukeshimana M, Nguyen CTM, Nguyen HTT, Nguyen KT, Nguyen ST, Nurumal MS, Nzabonimana A, Omer NAMA, Ogungbe O, Poon ACY, Reséndiz-Rodriguez A, Puang-Ngern B, Sagun CG, Shaik RA, Shankar NG, Sommer K, Toro E, Tran HTH, Urgel EL, Uwiringiyimana E, Vanichbuncha T, Youssef N. Fear in general populations: A cross-sectional study on perceived fear of common diseases, COVID-19, life events, and environmental threats in 30 countries. J Glob Health. 2024 Jun 7;14:05019.

• Song P, Wu J, Cao J, Sun W, Li X, Zhou T, Shen Y, Tan X, Ye X, Yuan C, Zhu Y, Rudan I; Global Health Epidemiology Research Group (GHERG). The global and regional prevalence of restless legs syndrome among adults: A systematic review and modelling analysis. J Glob Health. 2024 Jun 7;14:04113.

• Shin S, Moon S, Wang J, Choi YJ. Impact of institutional quality improvement initiatives on metabolic monitoring in mental disorder in patients treated with antipsychotics: A meta-analysis of intervention studies. J Glob Health. 2024 May 24;14:04074.

• Maher A. Tracing the bounds of distress: Mental health and the Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic. J Glob Health. 2024 May 17;14:03022.

• Ran W, Yu Q. Data-driven clustering approach to identify novel clusters of high cognitive impairment risk among Chinese community-dwelling elderly people with normal cognition: A national cohort study. J Glob Health. 2024 Apr 19;14:04088.

• Yan X, Han F, Wang H, Li Z, Kawachi I, Li X. Years of life lost due to insufficient sleep and associated economic burden in China from 2010-18. J Glob Health. 2024 Apr 5;14:04076.

• Voruz P, de Alcântara IJ, Nuber-Champier A, Cionca A, Guérin D, Allali G, Benzakour L, Lalive PH, Lövblad KO, Braillard O, Nencha U, Nehme M, Coen M, Serratrice J, Reny JL, Pugin J, Guessous I, Landis BN, Assal F, Péron JA. Persistence and emergence of new neuropsychological deficits following SARS-CoV-2 infection: A follow-up assessment of the Geneva COVID-COG cohort. J Glob Health. 2024 Mar 8;14:05008.

• Adil M, Atiq I, Younus S. Effectiveness of the Apple Watch as a mental health tracker. J Glob Health. 2024 Feb 9;14:03010.

• Barrada JR, Meule A. Orthorexia nervosa: Research based on invalid measures is invalid. J Glob Health. 2024 Feb 2;14:03007.

We trust that the readers of the Journal of Global Health Neurology and Psychiatry will find these studies valuable for informing research, policy, and practice across diverse global contexts.