Research domain criteria from neuroconstructivism: A developmental view on mental disorders

Abstract

Neuroconstructivism can provide Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) with a developmental framework to understand mental disorders. Neuroconstructivism proposes that mental disorders are the outcome of a developmental trajectory. Based on this assumption, symptoms would reveal the system's adaptation to optimize functioning according to the system's experience of the physical and social contexts. RDoC adopts a translational research approach with the aim of detecting, curing, and preventing mental illness. More specifically this involves to: (a) identify early signs of mental disorders, (b) find the optimal patient-treatment fit, and (c) design efficient interventions to prevent the system's eventual pathological functioning. We propose that meeting RDoC's threefold objective necessarily involves predicting the system's developmental trajectory. Such endeavor requires counting with assessment tools that are sensitive to both the process of development and its different contexts; the measures provided by these tools will allow identifying the risk and protective factors that make the system vulnerable to depart from a typical developmental trajectory. Including vectors relative to time and contexts in a relevant part of the matrix will make of RDoC a truly integrative model, which considers the relationships between behavior and neural circuits throughout the developmental pathway. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Brain Function and Dysfunction Neuroscience > Clinical Neuroscience Neuroscience > Development.