The Importance of Cholesterol in Psychopathology: A Review of Recent Contributions

AIM The aim of this study was to describe systematically recent studies that show the importance of cholesterol in psychopathology. METHODS This study was a review. The following databases were searched for relevant published articles on human studies: MEDLINE, Web of Science, EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection (papers from January 2012 to March 2016). RESULTS Eighteen recent papers were selected, and thematic dimensions showing correlations between cholesterol and behavioral and psychopathological variables were depression, suicide, personality, and aggression. CONCLUSION This paper demonstrates that recent research corroborates the idea that cholesterol plays an important role in governing behavior and psychopathology in humans. Deepening the studies in this field could be a promising avenue for future research, with implications for treating people with behavior or mental health problems.