Challenges of Fear Conditioning Research in the Age of RDoC

2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽  
Jan Richter

Abstract. As the criticism of the definition of the phenotype (i.e., clinical diagnosis) represents the major focus of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, it is somewhat surprising that discussions have not yet focused more on specific conceptual and procedural considerations of the suggested RDoC constructs, sub-constructs, and associated paradigms. We argue that we need more precise thinking as well as a conceptual and methodological discussion of RDoC domains and constructs, their interrelationships as well as their experimental operationalization and nomenclature. The present work is intended to start such a debate using fear conditioning as an example. Thereby, we aim to provide thought-provoking impulses on the role of fear conditioning in the age of RDoC as well as conceptual and methodological considerations and suggestions to guide RDoC-based fear conditioning research in the future.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-85 ◽  

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project constitutes a translational framework for psychopathology research, initiated by the National Institute of Mental Health in an attempt to provide new avenues for research to circumvent problems emerging from the use of symptom-based diagnostic categories in diagnosing disorders. The RDoC alternative is a focus on psychopathology based on dimensions simultaneously defined by observable behavior (including quantitative measures of cognitive or affective behavior) and neurobiological measures. Key features of the RDoC framework include an emphasis on functional dimensions that range from normal to abnormal, integration of multiple measures in study designs (which can foster computational approaches), and high priority on studies of neurodevelopment and environmental influences (and their interaction) that can contribute to advances in understanding the etiology of disorders throughout the lifespan. The paper highlights key implications for ways in which RDoC can contribute to future ideas about classification, as well as some of the considerations involved in translating basic behavioral and neuroscience data to psychopathology.


This chapter introduces the core thematic ideas of the present volume: that psychiatric research is in crisis, that it has entered a period of extraordinary science, and that a fully adequate response to the crisis should be responsive to the perspectives and interests of persons. We identify various sources of the crisis, drawing special attention to controversies concerning the role of the DSM in psychiatric research. And, we identify different strategies of response to the current crisis, including approaches that emphasize the importance of personal perspectives and the needs of the clinic and those that emphasize the important role of various scientific research programs. Further, we survey various developments (e.g., debates over fundamentals and a role for philosophical analysis, probing of the problems of the DSM framework, relaxation of standard forms of research practice, the introduction of the Research Domain Criteria initiative and other novel research programs) that are jointly suggestive of Thomas Kuhn’s characterization of periods of crisis that can arise in scientific research and of the “extraordinary science” that ensues. We suggest that this Kuhnian framework is useful for understanding the state of psychiatric research and it provides a framework for thinking about responses to the current crisis. We conclude with brief overviews of the contributions to the volume, each of which provides such a response.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (14) ◽  
pp. 2921-2936 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Vannucci ◽  
E. E. Nelson ◽  
D. M. Bongiorno ◽  
D. S. Pine ◽  
J. A. Yanovski ◽  
...  

Background.Pediatric loss-of-control (LOC) eating is a robust behavioral precursor to binge-type eating disorders. Elucidating precursors to LOC eating and binge-type eating disorders may refine developmental risk models of eating disorders and inform interventions.Method.We review evidence within constructs of the Negative Valence Systems (NVS) domain, as specified by the Research Domain Criteria framework. Based on published studies, we propose an integrated NVS model of binge-type eating-disorder risk.Results.Data implicate altered corticolimbic functioning, neuroendocrine dysregulation, and self-reported negative affect as possible risk factors. However, neuroimaging and physiological data in children and adolescents are sparse, and most prospective studies are limited to self-report measures.Conclusions.We discuss a broad NVS framework for conceptualizing early risk for binge-type eating disorders. Future neural and behavioral research on the developmental trajectory of LOC and binge-type eating disorders is required.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 247054701769814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Kwako ◽  
George F. Koob

Addiction has been conceptualized as a three-stage cycle— binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect, and preoccupation/anticipation—that worsens over time and involves allostatic changes in hedonic function via changes in the brain reward and stress systems. Using the withdrawal/negative affect stage and negative reinforcement as an important source of motivation for compulsive drug seeking, we outline the neurobiology of the stress component of the withdrawal/negative affect stage and relate it to a derivative of the Research Domain Criteria research construct for the study of psychiatric disease, known as the Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment. Using the Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment, we outline five subdomains of negative emotional states that can be operationally measured in human laboratory settings and paralleled by animal models. We hypothesize that a focus on negative emotionality and stress is closely related to the acute neurobiological alterations that are experienced in addiction and may serve as a bridge to a reformulation of the addiction nosology to better capture individual differences in patients for whom the withdrawal/negative affect stage drives compulsive drug taking.


2021 ◽  
pp. 191-211
Author(s):  
Stefan Kaiser ◽  
Florian Schlagenhauf

Reward is essential for motivating goal-directed behaviour. Impairment in the processing of reward is therefore a promising candidate for understanding apathy which has been defined as a loss of motivation and a quantitative reduction of goal-directed behaviour. This chapter employs the recently updated Research Domain Criteria framework for positive valence systems to provide an overview of reward system functions that have been associated with apathy, including reward anticipation, reward consumption, learning and prediction error, value representation, and integration of effort. For each construct, the concept and the measures on the behavioural and neural level are discussed. The chapter then provides examples from the schizophrenia literature on the association of apathy with these functions and gives a transdiagnostic perspective on the role of reward system dysfunction.


2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connie White-Williams

Despite the initiative for nurses to engage in evidence-based practice and research, little is known about transplant nurses and the role they play in research and evidence-based practice in nursing care. The definition of evidence-based practice and research and how it relates to the role of the transplant nurse, the facilitators and barriers to research and evidence-based practice, and the implications for the future of research and evidence-based practice in transplant nursing are addressed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Eric Balan ◽  
Mohammad Saeed

Corporate Social Responsibility commonly known as CSR has been defined by many world organizations and at present its definition has been practiced and adopted by corporations based on individual’s belief and understanding. Every corporation has its own definition of CSR and what is deemed CSR has always been philanthropy, cause-related marketing, green, community outreach or piecemeal solution. This paper will examine the understanding of CSR between the current and future corporate leaders and to analyze the challenges of its applications and implications in Malaysia. Through interviews and surveys, we analyze how CSR is perceived and how the dynamics are influenced by the interest of a corporation itself. In this paper we hope to highlight that the future of CSR is in the hands of the younger generation as they take on the role of corporate leaders. The corporate leaders of today’s economy will have a distinctive role in accompanying the younger generation into the arena of CSR to establish a foundation for the future of CSR in Malaysia that will take shape as a culture and identity. In conclusion, based on the Malaysian understanding of CSR, the authors suggest CSR approaches that will respond to the needs of communities in emerging economies.


2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN D. FISHER

There has been substantial debate on the measurement of tactical voting in this Journal, much of which has actually been concerned with the definition of a tactical vote. For this reason it is necessary to go ‘back to basics’ to examine the notion of a tactical vote within rational choice theory and follow its implications for the measurement of tactical voting. This Note has four aims: to elucidate the formal theoretical concepts behind the notion of tactical voting; to provide a practical definition of tactical voting based on those concepts; to examine and use the implications of the theory and definition to evaluate existing measures of tactical voting; and to further appraise measures of tactical voting from general methodological considerations. This Note focuses on tactical voting in single-member simple-plurality electoral systems. The following section argues that the range of situations where it may be optimal to vote tactically is both broader and less well defined than previous authors have generally realized. This implies that both the definition, and therefore the measurement, of tactical voting rest mainly on the criteria of voting for a party other than the first choice and doing so in order to best influence who wins. The empirical section examines various approaches to the measurement of tactical voting and argues that the Heath et al. measure is a priori the most attractive available. Furthermore, detailed analysis using British Election Study (BES) data from English voters in 1987, 1992 and 1997, shows that whilst the Heath et al. measure is relatively robust, it can be usefully revised to improve consistency with the strength-of-feeling scores. A corresponding method for identifying a voter's preferred party is also presented.


Author(s):  
Arcioni Elisa

This chapter examines the uneasy relationship between the Australian Constitution and membership of the Australian polity. Unlike some constitutions, the Australian Constitution contains no mention of ‘citizenship’. Instead, formal membership of the Australian community is determined by reference to the constitutional categories of ‘subjects of the Queen’ and ‘people of the Commonwealth’ and through the legislative definition of citizenship under federal law. These peculiar features of the Australian context reflect what is generally assumed to be the modest role of the Constitution in determining national identity and the fact that Australia was not an independent nation at the time of the Constitution's drafting. Developments in legislation, constitutional jurisprudence, and mooted constitutional amendments all point towards a greater role for the Constitution in determining Australian ‘citizenship’ in the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-74
Author(s):  
Francesca Peruzzotti

This paper aims to draw a connection between Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion in regard to the role of negative theology. This scrutiny shows meaningful contributions of the Authors to a new definition of subjectivity in a post-metaphysical age, and their consideration about which possibilities are still open for a non-predetermined history given outside of the presence domain. The future is neither a totalisation of history by its end, nor a simple continuation of the present. It is an eschatological event, where the relationship with the other plays a crucial role for the self-constitution. Such an interlacement is generated by the confession, where the link between past and future is not causally determined, but instead it is self-witness, as in Augustine’s masterpiece, essential reference for both the Authors


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