scholarly journals Research Domain Criteria: cognitive systems, neural circuits, and dimensions of behavior

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Diagnostic Systems ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Regulatory Systems ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Research Domain

Current diagnostic systems for mental disorders were established before the tools of neuroscience were available, and although they have improved the reliability of psychiatric classification, progress toward the discovery of disease etiologies and novel approaches to treatment and prevention may benefit from alternative conceptualizations of mental disorders. The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative is the centerpiece of NIMH's effort to achieve its strategic goal of developing new methods to classify mental disorders for research purposes. The RDoC matrix provides a research framework that encourages investigators to reorient their research perspective by taking a dimensional approach to the study of the genetic, neural, and behavioral features of mental disorders, RDoCs integrative approach includes cognition along with social processes, arousal/regulatory systems, and negative and positive valence systems as the major domains, because these neurobehavioral systems have all evolved to serve the motivational and adaptive needs of the organism. With its focus on neural circuits informed by the growing evidence of the neurodevelopmental nature of many disorders and its capacity to capture the patterns of co-occurrence of behaviors and symptoms, the RDoC approach holds promise to advance our understanding of the nature of mental disorders.

Research Domain Criteria and OCD

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Kalanthroff ◽  
Gideon E. Anholt ◽  
Helen Blair Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Diagnostic Systems ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Research Domain

This chapter discusses the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project, an initiative of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) of the United States to develop for research purposes new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures, and explores how the hallmark symptoms of OCD (obsessions, compulsions, and anxiety) can be mapped onto RDoC domains. Unlike current categorical diagnostic systems (e.g., DSM), RDoC seeks to integrate many levels of information (from genomics to self-report) to validate dimensions defined by neurobiology and behavioral measures that cut across current disorder categories. The chapter explores, for heuristic reasons, how the RDoC matrix might be used to elucidate the neurobehavioral domains of dysfunction that lead to the characteristic symptoms of OCD. It then selectively reviews the OCD literature from the perspective of the RDoC domains, aiming to guide future transdiagnostic studies to examine specific neurobehavioral domains across disorders.

The Nimh Research Domain Criteria Project

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce N. Cuthbert
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Signs And Symptoms ◽  
Disease Classification ◽  
Abnormal Behavior ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Regulatory Systems ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Research Domain

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project grew from recognized deficiencies in currently used diagnostic schemes for mental illness, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). While the latter is based on a series of signs and symptoms of illnesses that can co-occur in groups of individuals, without consideration of underlying biological factors, RDoC is based on the increasing ability to relate normal as well as abnormal behavior to particular molecules and circuits in the brain across animal species and humans. Behavioral domains include negative valence systems (e.g., fear and anxiety), positive valence systems (e.g., reward and motivation), cognitive systems, social processes, and arousal and regulatory systems, several of which might be affected in a given DSM disease classification. RDoC is seen as a step toward a “precision psychiatry,” where increasing knowledge of the genetic, molecular, cellular, and circuit basis of mental illness will yield biologically based diagnoses that offer important pathophysiological, treatment, and prognostic implications.

The Psychophysiology of Anxiety and Mood Disorders

2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Lang ◽  
Lisa M. McTeague ◽  
Margaret M. Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Physiological Reactivity ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Diagnostic Systems ◽  
Psychophysiological Reactivity ◽  
Diagnostic Categories ◽  
New Research ◽  
Research Domain

Abstract. Several decades of research are reviewed, assessing patterns of psychophysiological reactivity in anxiety patients responding to a fear/threat imagery challenge. Findings show substantive differences in these measures within principal diagnostic categories, questioning the reliability and categorical specificity of current diagnostic systems. Following a new research framework (US National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], Research Domain Criteria [RDoC]; Cuthbert & Insel, 2013 ), dimensional patterns of physiological reactivity are explored in a large sample of anxiety and mood disorder patients. Patients’ responses (e.g., startle reflex, heart rate) during fear/threat imagery varied significantly with higher questionnaire measured “negative affect,” stress history, and overall life dysfunction – bio-marking disorder groups, independent of Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals (DSM). The review concludes with a description of new research, currently underway, exploring brain function indices (structure activation, circuit connectivity) as potential biological classifiers (collectively with the reflex physiology) of anxiety and mood pathology.

Positive Mood States and Gambling Disorder

2019 ◽  
pp. 366-379
Author(s):  
Sarah W. Yip ◽  
Zu Wei Zhai ◽  
Iris M. Balodis ◽  
Marc N. Potenza
Keyword(s):  
Impulse Control ◽  
Gambling Disorder ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Approach Motivation ◽  
Gambling Problems ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Monetary Rewards ◽  
Neuroimaging Data ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Research Domain

Gambling problems are experienced by about 1% of the adult population, with higher estimates reported in adolescents. Both positive and negative motivations for gambling exist and may contribute to gambling problems. Positive valence disturbances involving how people process rewards, including monetary rewards relevant to gambling, have been reported in gambling disorder and have been associated with the disorder and clinically relevant measures relating to impaired impulse control. Positive valence systems as they relate to gambling disorder and clinically relevant features thereof are considered in this chapter. Findings from neuroimaging data related to the positive valence system constructs of approach motivation, initial and sustained/longer term responsiveness to reward, habit and reward learning are reviewed. Possible interactions between positive valence systems and other Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) systems are also discussed within the context of gambling disorder, as is how the application of an RDoC framework can be used to further understanding of gambling disorder.

scholarly journals A knowledge network for a dynamic taxonomy of psychiatric disease

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-87 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Knowledge Network ◽  
Psychiatric Disease ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Research Domain

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project was initiated by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in early 2009 as the implementation of Goal 1.4 of its just-issued strategic plan. In keeping with the NIMH mission, to "transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research," RDoC was explicitly conceived as a research-related initiative. The statement of the relevant goal in the strategic plan reads: "Develop, for research purposes, new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures." Due to the novel approach that RDoC takes to conceptualizing and studying mental disorders, it has received widespread attention, well beyond the borders of the immediate research community. This review discusses the rationale for the experimental framework that RDoC has adopted, and its implications for the nosology of mental disorders in the future.

scholarly journals Chronic Stress in Adolescents and Its Neurobiological and Psychopathological Consequences: An RDoC Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 247054701771564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandni Sheth ◽  
Erin McGlade ◽  
Deborah Yurgelun-Todd
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Environmental Influence ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Psychiatric Illnesses ◽  
Orthogonal Dimension ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Behavioral Constructs ◽  
Research Domain

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative provides a strategy for classifying psychopathology based on behavioral dimensions and neurobiological measures. Neurodevelopment is an orthogonal dimension in the current RDoC framework; however, it has not yet been fully incorporated into the RDoC approach. A combination of both a neurodevelopmental and RDoC approach offers a multidimensional perspective for understanding the emergence of psychopathology during development. Environmental influence (e.g., stress) has a profound impact on the risk for development of psychiatric illnesses. It has been shown that chronic stress interacts with the developing brain, producing significant changes in neural circuits that eventually increase the susceptibility for development of psychiatric disorders. This review highlights effects of chronic stress on the adolescent brain, as adolescence is a period characterized by a combination of significant brain alterations, high levels of stress, and emergence of psychopathology. The literature synthesized in this review suggests that chronic stress-induced changes in neurobiology and behavioral constructs underlie the shared vulnerability across a number of disorders in adolescence. The review particularly focuses on depression and substance use disorders; however, a similar argument can also be made for other psychopathologies, including anxiety disorders. The summarized findings underscore the need for a framework to integrate neurobiological findings from disparate psychiatric disorders and to target transdiagnostic mechanisms across disorders.

Positive Valence System Dysregulation in Psychosis

2019 ◽  
pp. 251-283
Author(s):  
Deanna M. Barch ◽  
David Pagliaccio ◽  
Katherine Luking
Keyword(s):  
Action Selection ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Treatment Development ◽  
Diagnostic Categories ◽  
Reward Prediction ◽  
Hedonic Experience ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Hedonic Processing ◽  
Research Domain

Motivational and hedonic impairments cut across diagnostic categories, are core aspects of psychopathology, and may be crucial for understanding pathways to development and maintenance of psychopathology. Given the pervasive nature of motivational and hedonic deficits across psychopathology forms, the Research Domain Criteria initiative includes a “positive valence” systems domain that outlines constructs critical for understanding motivational and hedonic impairments in psychopathology. These constructs include initial responsiveness to reward, reward anticipation or expectancy, incentive or reinforcement learning, effort valuation, and action selection. The chapter reviews behavioral and neuroimaging studies providing evidence for construct impairments in in individuals with psychosis versus individuals with depressive pathology. Evidence suggests there are meaningful differences in reward-related and hedonic deficits associated with psychosis versus depression. These differences have implications for understanding the differential etiology of these forms of psychopathology and the ways treatment development may need to proceed for each domain. The literature suggests that individuals with depressive pathology experience impairments of in-the-moment hedonics or “liking,” particularly among those who experience anhedonia. Given that hedonic experience is the basis in many ways for all other aspects of motivational function, such deficits may propagate forward and contribute to impairments in other constructs dependent on hedonic responses. In contrast, individuals with psychosis have relatively intact in-the-moment hedonic processing, instead experiencing impairments in process aspects that translate reward to action selection. More specifically, individuals with schizophrenia exhibit altered reward prediction and associated striatal and prefrontal activation, impaired reward learning, and impaired reward-modulated action selection.

Brain Reward Systems and Apathy

2021 ◽  
pp. 191-211
Author(s):  
Stefan Kaiser ◽  
Florian Schlagenhauf
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Error ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Reward Systems ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Promising Candidate ◽  
Brain Reward ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Research Domain ◽  
Value Representation

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.

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