Research Domain Criteria (RDoC): USA National Institute of Mental Health
Facilitator:
Cameron Carter, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of California, DavisDiscussants:
Assen Jablensky, Winthrop Professor of Psychiatry, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia
Rhoshel Lenroot, Chair of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of New South Wales
Russell Poldrack, Professor of Psychology and Neurobiology, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Overview:
Rapid methodological advances and new knowledge in genetics, neuroscience, and behavioral science has transformed our understanding of how the brain produces adaptive behaviour, and the ways in which normal functioning becomes disrupted in various forms of mental disorders. In order to facilitate the translation of this new knowledge to clinical issues, the NIMH has developed the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative. RDoC seeks to build an understanding of psychopathology based upon dimensional measures that cut across traditional diagnostic boundaries (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research-priorities/rdoc/index.shtml). This new framework is having a significant impact on psychopathology research in the United States and, increasingly, internationally.
This workshop will review the historical context for RDoC, including limited progress in linking specific neurobiological mechanisms to DSM-based mental disorders and the earlier CNTRICS initiative and the ongoing CNTRACS project which have sought to translate tools and constructs from basic cognitive and affective neuroscience into clinically useful measures for treatment development and psychopathology research.
The development of RDoC constructs and paradigms and the long-term goal of completing the RDoC matrix across levels of analysis from molecules to symptoms and functioning will be discussed. There is great interest within both the clinical and basic research communities in the US about the implications of the RDoC project for future NIMH support of biomedical research. Research subjects of interest will no longer be limited to strict inclusion criteria based on the DSM but rather be selected on the basis of having ‘‘palpable psychopathology’’ (e.g., high levels of anxiety) that cuts across different diagnostic groups. The objective is to seek to understand the mechanisms - the basic pathophysiology, the risk factors, impaired functioning and effective treatments.
This will set the stage for our discussion session, where the merits and impact of RDoC and related dimensional approaches to understanding and investigating psychopathology will be debated. Implications for future research development, funding and publications in mental health research will be discussed.
The workshop is open to ICON delegates as well as researchers, clinicians and students not attending ICON.
| Date: | Sunday 27 July | |
| Time: | 12.00pm - 4.30pm | |
| Venue: | Plaza Auditorium, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) | |
Cost: | $75.00 per person (includes afternoon tea) Cost is additional to Conference Registration |
To Register for this Event
If you are already registered for ICON 2014, you can add a ticket to the RDoC Workshop by modifying your registration here
To attend only the RDoC Workshop click here to register
