{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T03:15:35Z","timestamp":1784171735363,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":86,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776988800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Medical and Health Science and Technology Project of Shandong Province","award":["202312010854"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202312010854"]}]},{"name":"Medical and Health Science and Technology Project of Shandong Province","award":["202512040307"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202512040307"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007129","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ZR2024QH001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZR2024QH001"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007129","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Innovation Project of Shandong Academy of Medical Science"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The escalating crisis of plastic pollution has positioned microplastics (MPs) as globally pervasive environmental contaminants, with a documented presence across aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric ecosystems, as well as within biological organisms. A growing body of evidence suggests that MPs not only threaten ecological integrity but may also induce multifaceted neurotoxic effects in humans, particularly targeting the functional architecture of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). As the central regulator of cognition, emotional processing, and behavioral control, PFC dysfunction has been hypothesized to be associated with cognitive deficits, emotional dysregulation, and behavioral abnormalities. In this comprehensive review, we synthesize the current understanding of MP-mediated neurotoxicity through three interconnected pathways: (1) structural and functional impairment of PFC neural networks, (2) disruption of neurotransmitter homeostasis, and (3) potential associations with neuropsychiatric pathogenesis. By integrating these mechanistic insights, this work aims to provide a scientific foundation for risk assessment frameworks and evidence-based environmental health policies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxics14050359","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T12:29:11Z","timestamp":1777033751000},"page":"359","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Microplastic Neurotoxicity in the Prefrontal Cortex: A Review of Mechanisms and Neuropsychiatric Associations"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Zixuan","family":"Liang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Enguo","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bing","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhenhao","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiangjing","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiazi","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziyang","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengjie","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hua","family":"Shao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7445-6698","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shangya","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"168946","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2023.168946","article-title":"The potential toxicity of microplastics on human health","volume":"912","author":"Zhao","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci. 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