Better Biomarkers, Faster Drugs, Stronger Models: Progress Towards Precision Psychiatry.
Missouri medicine January 1, 2023 Joshua S Siegel, Craig Pearson, Eric J Lenze 592 citations
New treatments for major depressive disorder are moving beyond traditional monoamine-targeting antidepressants toward options like κ-opioid antagonists, ketamine, and neurosteroids. These advances, combined with smartphone-based experience sampling and brain imaging, enable more precise diagnosis and symptom-specific measurement. This convergence heralds 'precision psychiatry'—selecting optimal treatments for individual patients. Anhedonia exemplifies this shift, evolving from a mere depression criterion to a transdiagnostic condition understood neurobiologically and targeted by novel pharmacotherapies. Functional testing of reward circuits in developing κ-opioid antagonists for anhedonia illustrates how other treatments, including psychedelics, may fit into future precision psychiatric care.