Chapter 20 - Promises and challenges of translational research in neuropsychiatry

Summary

One of the goals of the National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research along with the Clinical and Translational Research Awards, which funds the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, is to make translational research an integral part of biomedical research. Translational neuropsychiatry research is a young science, and many of the mental disorders are attributable to circuit-based rather than punctate lesions or dysfunctions. T1 translational research in neuropsychiatry is in an exciting but challenging early stage of development. Cross-species translational animal models for neuropsychiatric disorders abound, including those for schizophrenic, bipolar, addictive, eating, major depression, anxiety, and many other disorders. One key point that is widely stressed is that the neuropsychiatric disorders are biopsychosocial disorders but then the often ignored fact is that psychosocial interventions can reshape brain structure and function alone or in conjunction with biological treatments.