Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2012 – Neuroeconomics experts and guest editors of the Biological Psychiatry special issue Carla Sharp, John Monterosso, and P. Read Montague in an introductory paper define neuroeconomics as "an interdisciplinary field that brings together psychology, economics, neuroscience, and computational science to investigate how people make decisions."
Neuroeconomics is a relatively new field that traditionally has studied the decision-making process of healthy individuals. It does so by using neuroimaging techniques in conjunction with behavioral economic experiments. For example, an experiment may involve a gambling task where individuals must repeatedly choose between two options, one considered risky and one safe. The corresponding brain activity occurring during each choice is recorded and analyzed, allowing researchers to study and understand the underlying processes of those decisions.
In healthy individuals, investigators study optimal decision-making strategies. However, in psychiatric populations, studying alterations in decision-making can provide insights into the neurobiology underlying "real world" functional impairments. Dr. Sharp commented that "neuroeconomics provides an interdisciplinary platform for researchers to study reward-related decision-making as it relates to psychiatric disorder across multiple levels of explanation." Thus, in this introductory paper to the special issue, the authors detail the reasons why neuroeconomics is a useful approach to study psychiatric behavior.
Abnormal decision-making has been identified in many psychiatric disorders, including substance abuse and addiction disorders, depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Individuals with these disorders tend to respond differently to rewards and losses, which includes how much value they place on immediate versus delayed rewards, and even how choices are altered based on the potential size of the reward. Neuroeconomics can be used to study these differential patterns of decision-making, which theoretically, could later be used to develop improved treatments.
Neuroeconomics may also advance psychiatry in a larger way by promoting the development of a new classification system based on linking pathology in brain systems to behavioral disturbances. This is a lofty and important goal for psychiatry, highlighted by the National Institute of Mental Health Strategic Plan that identifies the need for "new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures". This would move the field beyond the categorical classification system that has been used for decades to diagnose and study psychiatric disorders.
"Neuroeconomics is one of the hottest areas in cognitive neuroscience. We are extremely pleased to have leaders in this field discuss its important implications for psychiatry," said John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
For now, the authors note that the "application of neuroeconomics to psychopathology has only just begun," but the papers in this special issue detail how and why this field can and should move forward.
The introductory paper is entitled "Neuroeconomics: A Bridge for Translational Research" by Carla Sharp, John Monterosso, and P. Read Montague (doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.02.029). The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 72, Issue 2 (July 15, 2012), published by Elsevier.
Notes for editors
Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Rhiannon Bugno at +1 214 648 0880 or Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Carla Sharp at +1 713 743 8612 or csharp2@uh.edu.
The authors' affiliations, and disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article.
John H. Krystal, M.D., is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available here.
About Biological Psychiatry
Biological Psychiatry is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, whose purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior. In accord with this mission, this peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal publishes both basic and clinical contributions from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major psychiatric disorders.
The journal publishes novel results of original research which represent an important new lead or significant impact on the field, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Reviews and commentaries that focus on topics of current research and interest are also encouraged.
Biological Psychiatry is one of the most selective and highly cited journals in the field of psychiatric neuroscience. It is ranked 5th out of 129 Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 243 Neurosciences titles in the Journal Citations Reports® published by Thomson Reuters. The 2011 Impact Factor score for Biological Psychiatry is 8.283.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).
Media contact
Rhiannon Bugno
Editorial Office, Biological Psychiatry
+1 214 648 0880
biol.psych@utsouthwestern.edu