Studying hallucinations within the NIMH RDoC framework.
We explore how hallucinations might be studied within the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, which asks investigators to step back from diagnoses based on symptoms and focus on basic dimensions of functioning. We start with a description of the objectives of the RDoC project and its domains and constructs. Because the RDoC initiative asks investigators to study phenomena across the wellness spectrum and different diagnoses, we address whether hallucinations experienced in nonclinical populations are the same as those experienced by people with psychotic diagnoses, and whether hallucinations studied in one clinical group can inform our understanding of the same phenomenon in another. We then discuss the phenomenology of hallucinations and how different RDoC domains might be relevant to their study. We end with a discussion of various challenges and potential next steps to advance the application of the RDoC approach to this area of research.
San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA; judith.ford@ucsf.edu.
Judith M
JM
Ford
Division of Adult Translational Research, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD;
Sarah E
SE
Morris
Department of Psychiatry, Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital, New Haven, CT;
Ralph E
RE
Hoffman
Psychiatry Department, University Medical Center, Utrecht, Netherlands;
Iris
I
Sommer
Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; Graylands Hospital, North Metro Health Service Mental Health, Perth, Western Australia;
Flavie
F
Waters
ARC Centre for Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK;
Simon
S
McCarthy-Jones
Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM;
Robert J
RJ
Thoma
Psychology Department and Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA;
Jessica A
JA
Turner
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL;
Sarah K
SK
Keedy
School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia; Clinical Research Centre, North Metropolitan Health Service - Mental Health, Mount Claremont, Western Australia.
Johanna C
JC
Badcock
Division of Adult Translational Research, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD;
Bruce N
BN
Cuthbert
D006212:Hallucinations; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders; D009315:National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.); D012106:Research; D012107:Research Design; D012559:Schizophrenia; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014481:United States
Criteria; Domain; RDoC; Research; hallucinations