Biomarkers in Psychiatry: Promises and Perils in the Real World, by Ilina Singh and Nikolas Rose

Biomarkers are to be understood in terms of vulnerability and susceptibility, risk and probability; moreover, since they are based on groups, their predictive power as risk factors for individuals is low (Singh and Rose 2009, Walsh et al. 2011).

Neuroimaging depression research is essentially about the identification of such biomarkers, which in its case take the form of patterns of neural activation that systematically correlate with a diagnosis (major depression disorder, bipolar disorder), with particular symptoms, or with treatment outcome. The neuroimaging of depression thus looks like the neuroimaging of any other “brain disorder.” But there are some significant differences.

Vidal, Fernando and Ortega, Francisco. Being Brains: Making the Cerebral Subject (Forms of Living)....

psych.ox.ac.uk/team/ilina-singh

nikolasrose.com/

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