Complexity in Psychopathology: One Size Does Not Fit All

New York City, NY

Heterogeneity and variability in clinical presentation, cognition, and biological measures are well-known in psychiatry research, but these issues are typically seen as confounds.  This complexity is increasingly standing in the way of further advances and the development of new treatments. In addition, recent debates around DSM-5, RDoC, HiTOP, clinical staging, and other approaches to psychopathology indicate that our best hope for meaningful progress is to examine complexity as a feature in itself. With this background, the 2023 meeting focused on “Complexity in Psychopathology”. Where attendees explored several avenues of current research to turn complexity into an opportunity to understand better and treat psychopathology. ​This meeting featured speakers describing applications of complexity principles to the study of the brain and behavior. There were also opportunities to discuss how brain biology and psychopathology interact and mold one another dynamically and how complexity could help us understand this process.

Keynote Talks: ​

• “Is personalized psychiatry possible?”​
• “Making sense of complex nature of psychiatric disorders.”

Featured Panels: ​

• Data– Understanding and handling sources of variability​
• Development– Homotypic continuity vs. pluripotent syndromes​
• Diagnosis– Over-specificity and under-specificity in diagnostic systems​
• Treatment– Heterogeneity of treatment response: What is it and what can we learn from it?​
• Biology– What has it been difficult mapping biology onto psychopathology?

Dost Ongur, MD, PhD
William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Director, Schizophrenia, and Bipolar Disorder Research Program, Mclean Hospital

Review the Previous Annual Meeting Schedule - 2023

The Program Committee packed the #APPA23 agenda full of exciting and informative presentations. The speaker lineup for the 2023 APPA Annual Meeting, 'Complexity in Psychopathology: One Size Does Not Fit All', is still available for viewing.

Check out the 2023 schedule from the full list of speakers, keynotes, poster sessions, and symposiums that were in the itinerary planner on the conference website.