Towards a Neurodevelopmental Model of Clinical Case Formulation

Rapid advances in molecular genetics and neuroimaging over the last 10 to 20 years have been a catalyst for research in neurobiology, developmental psychopathology, and translational neuroscience. Methods of study in psychiatry, previously described as “slow maturing,” now are becoming sufficiently sophisticated to more effectively investigate the biology of higher mental processes. Despite these technologic advances, the recognition that psychiatric disorders are disorders of neurodevelopment, and the importance of case formulation to clinical practice, a neurodevelopmental model of case formulation has not yet been articulated. The goals of this article, which is organized as a clinical case conference, are to begin to articulate a neurodevelopmental model of case formulation, to illustrate its value, and finally to explore how clinical psychiatric practice might evolve in the future if this model were employed.