FROM LETHALITY TO NEUROPSYCHOTOXICOLOGY - A MAJOR PARADIGM SHIFT TO TOXICOLOGY

Toxicological risk assessment has long been restricted to extreme phys iological topics, such as lethality, later progressively oriented to m olecular levels, such as in genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and immunot oxicity. While recent trends are rightly extending ecotoxicity studies to broader ranges of scales, from individuals to communities, ecosyst ems, and landscape as the most recent step, the scope of toxicology sh ould now focus also on much cryptic although important aspects, partic ularly behavioral and psychological toxicity which have long been negl ected since their effects are difficult to evidence. This change from the old questioned paradigm of extreme and easily measurable effects, opens the field of neuropsychotoxicology as a growing scientific disci pline, and the need for noninvasive techniques in turn puts emphasis o n behavioral studies and quantitative electro- encephalography/Neurobi ofeed back as promising ways.