The research domain criteria framework: The case for anterior cingulate cortex.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Computational Psychiatry

Background:

• The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework promotes studying neurocognitive constructs across disorders.
• These constructs vary dimensionally, with psychopathology arising from maladaptive extremes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function elucidates the etiology of diverse mental disorders.
• To link ACC function to individual differences in reward sensitivity and persistence traits.

Main Methods:

• The study proposes a computational framework integrating ACC function with cognitive control.
• Discusses ACC's role in reward processing and control, referencing reward positivity and frontal midline theta oscillations.

Main Results:

• ACC function contributes to individual differences in personality traits like reward sensitivity and persistence.
• Maladaptive expression of these ACC-influenced traits may contribute to various mental and neurological disorders.

Conclusions:

• Insights into ACC function, particularly reward positivity and frontal midline theta, can illuminate the dimensional nature of psychopathology.
• This framework offers a novel perspective on the etiology of mental disorders by linking neural mechanisms to behavioral traits.