Cognitive and Behavioral Phenotypes New Trends for Research, Classification, and Diagnosis in Neuropsychology and Psychiatry

Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in cognitive phenotypes. A cognitive phenotype is a discrete cognitive or behavioral feature that can be quantitatively measured, be specified with some degree of precision in terms of its neurobiology, and aid in reliable diagnosis and classification of neuropsychiatric illness or in characterization of normal neuropsychological functioning. The subprocesses of response inhibition, working memory, contingency detection, and fear conditioning, are just some of many examples of cognitive phenotypes. This book attempts to lay out an organizing structure for cognitive phenotypes before moving on to sampling various specific cognitive phenotypes. It attempts to unify definition of cognitive phenotypes and offers a reference frame for future research while highlighting this important new trajectory in cognitive neuroscience.