Taming the shrewdness of neural function: methodological challenges in computational psychiatry

- Computational psychiatry applies computational neuroscience to psychiatric concerns.
- It includes data analysis, and mathematical and computational modeling.
- There is currently a pressing need for a wide range of methodologies.
- We consider statistical approaches to gargantuan troves of data.
- We consider the underlying structure of various sorts of individual difference.

Computational psychiatry involves applying a collection of theoretical notions, including data analysis and mathematical and computational modeling, to the problems of psychiatry. It is a nascent field whose central methods are just in the process of being developed. We consider some of the challenges and opportunities for techniques and approaches that are presenting themselves as it starts to take on a more concrete form.