Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)

Research domain criteria (RDoC) is a research framework, created in 2009 by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and 200 scientists — an alternative approach to the study of mental disorders to improve diagnosis, prevention, intervention, and find cures. The framework considers mental health/psychopathology within six major domains of neurobehavioral functioning — in contrast to the longstanding practice of basing diagnoses on symptom clusters (as in DSM). Researchers study neural circuits across a spectrum of severity, looking at emotion, cognition, social behavior, and genetic analysis from brain imaging and neurochemistry. The framework also includes research into child development research (behavior and biology changes and maturing across lifespans) and environmental determinants of mental health (physical, cultural, social). Also see RDoC domains: Negative (stress response) and Positive Valence Systems (reward), Cognition, Social Processes, Arousal/Regulatory Systems, and Sensorimotor Systems.