title: On the Complexity of Brain Disorders: A Symptom-Based Approach.
abstract: Mounting evidence shows that brain disorders involve multiple and different neural dysfunctions, including regional brain damage, change to cell structure, chemical imbalance, and/or connectivity loss among different brain regions. Understanding the complexity of brain disorders can help us map these neural dysfunctions to different symptom clusters as well as understand subcategories of different brain disorders. Here, we discuss data on the mapping of symptom clusters to different neural dysfunctions using examples from brain disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD), Parkinson's disease (PD), schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition, we discuss data on the similarities of symptoms in different disorders. Importantly, computational modeling work may be able to shed light on plausible links between various symptoms and neural damage in brain disorders.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia; Marcs Institute for Brain and Behavior, Western Sydney UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Ahmed A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Moustafa
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Nyírö Gyula Hospital, National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kéri
authors.affiliation: Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical UniversityWroclaw, Poland; Department of Genetics, Wroclaw Medical UniversityWroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Blazej
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Misiak
authors.affiliation: Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frydecka
keywords: Parkinson’s disease; brain disorders; functional connectivity; major depressive disorder; neurotransmitters; posttraumatic stress disorder; regional brain volume; schizophrenia