From neural circuits to communities: an integrative multidisciplinary roadmap for global mental health

Abstract

Suffering due to mental health problems is rising inexorably in all regions of the world. One major reason is that our understanding of the causation, prevention and treatment of mental health problems has been hindered by an over-reliance on diagnostic categories. Yet there is growing evidence for alternative approaches from across multiple disciplines, including neuroscience, which elucidates neural regions and networks underlying specific mental health experiences; cognitive science, which identifies cognitive functions and impairments relevant to mental health; clinical science, which identifies symptom patterns associated with cognitive dysfunctions; developmental science, which identifies environmental influences on brain development in early life; social science, which identifies sociocultural influences on mental health; intervention science, which identifies the ‘active ingredients’ of psychological interventions; and implementation science, which designs scalable interventions to effectively deliver these active ingredients. We propose an integrative model that converges these diverse disciplinary perspectives, from neural circuits to interventions, that can be delivered at scale, with a potential for higher coverage, greater personalization and greater efficacy than traditional diagnostic approaches. This integrative approach can lead to a radical opportunity to shift the needle on mental health-related suffering globally. In this Perspective, the authors propose a new approach to addressing mental health globally that encompasses a breadth of disciplines, from neuroscience to intervention and implementation sciences.