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27 - Commentary on “Should Psychiatry Be Precise? Reduction, Big Data, and Nosological Revision in Mental Health Research”

from Section 9

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2020

By
Robert M. Bilder
Edited by
Kenneth S. Kendler ,
Josef Parnas  and
Peter Zachar
Kenneth S. Kendler
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Josef Parnas
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
Peter Zachar
Affiliation:
Auburn University, Montgomery
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Summary

The chapter “Should Psychiatry Be Precise?” challenges the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) and the Research Domains Criteria (RDoC) initiative that have been advanced by the National Institute of Health. The chapter includes valuable points about the challenges of applying reduction across levels of analysis, the value of nosological revision, and the potential pitfalls of using big data. But the overall argument constructed in the chapter is a straw man that does not reflect well the intentions of those who designed these initiatives nor the understanding and aims of scientists now engaged in research under the aegis of these initiatives. A more constructive approach might focus on specification of tractable questions about causality in mental health research, and aspects of subjective experience that are currently under-represented in biological psychiatry.

Keywords

Research Domains Criteria (RDoC)Precision MedicineBig datareductionismNIHNIMHpsychiatrynosology
Type
Chapter
Information
Levels of Analysis in Psychopathology
Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives
 , pp. 335 - 342
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

Andersen, H. (2016) ‘Reduction in the Biomedical Sciences.’ In Solomon, M., Simon, J., & Kincaid, H. (eds.), Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Medicine. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Borsboom, D, Cramer, A, and Kalis, A. (2018) ‘Brain Disorders? Not Really…: Why Network Structures Block Reductionism in Psychopathology Research.’ Behavior and Brain Sciences 42: 1–54.Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, KS. (2005) ‘Toward a Philosophical Structure for Psychiatry.’ American Journal of Psychiatry 162 (3): 433–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeDoux, J, Brown, R, Pine, D, and Hofmann, S. (2018, January) ‘Know Thyself: Well-Being and Subjective Experience.’ In Cerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science. New York: Dana Foundation.Google Scholar
Parnas, J and Henriksen, MG. (2014) ‘Disordered Self in the Schizophrenia Spectrum.’ Harvard Review of Psychiatry 22 (5): 251–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Preacher, KJ, Rucker, DD, MacCallum, RC, Nicewander, WA. (2005) ‘Use of the Extreme Groups Approach: A Critical Reexamination and New Recommendations.’ Psychological Methods;10 (2):178CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, SJ, Lilienfeld, SO, Meca, A, and Sauvigné, KC. (2016) ‘The Role of Neuroscience within Psychology: A Call for Inclusiveness over Exclusiveness.’ The American Psychologist 71 (1): 52–70.Google Scholar
Wakefield, JC. (2014) ‘Wittgenstein’s Nightmare: Why the RDoC Grid Needs a Conceptual Dimension.’ World Psychiatry 13 (1): 38–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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