ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2024: A consensus roadmap for a new diagnostic framework for mental disorders

Description

Exploring how the new pathways neurobiology is opening to precision diagnostics have the potential to transform neuropsychiatric treatment science.

Current nosology for the diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders separates each often into non-overlapping diagnostic categories. This nosological separation is not based on underlying aetiology but on convention-based clustering of qualitative symptoms of disorders. Yet, overlap in disease symptoms and dimensions across different neuropsychiatric disorders is huge. While diagnostic categories are sufficient to provide the basis for general clinical management, they do not describe the underlying neurobiology that gives rise to individual symptoms. The ability to precisely link these symptoms to underlying neurobiology would not only facilitate the development of better treatments, it would also allow physicians to provide patients with a better understanding of the complexities and management of their illness.

To realise this ambition, a paradigm shift is needed to build an understanding of how neuropsychiatric conditions can be defined more precisely using quantitative (multimodal) biological processes and parameters and thus to optimise treatment efficacy.

The New Frontiers Meeting 2024 aims to reach a consensus roadmap for building a new diagnostic framework for mental disorders by discussing its rationale, outlook, and consequences with stakeholders. This framework would instantiate a set of principles and procedures by which research could continuously improve precision diagnostics. By the end of the meeting we aim to draw out the process for realising such a framework. This will concern raising global alignment on the initiative with all stakeholders, reaching agreement on the way forward to better define and (longitudinally) measure neuropsychiatric conditions, harmonising (translational) methodologies and data sets across the community, and mobilising resources to implement and validate the framework.

Period	17-Mar-2024 → 18-Mar-2024
Event type	Conference
Location	Nice, FranceShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International