Ethological computational psychiatry: Challenges and opportunities

Studying the intricacies of individual subjects' moods and cognitive processing over extended periods of time presents a formidable challenge in medicine. While much of systems neuroscience appropriately focuses on the link between neural circuit functions and well-constrained behaviors over short timescales (e.g., trials, hours), many mental health conditions involve complex interactions of mood and cognition that are nonstationary across behavioral contexts and evolve over extended timescales. Here, we discuss opportunities, challenges, and possible future directions in computational psychiatry to quantify non-stationary continuously monitored behaviors. We suggest that this exploratory effort may contribute to a more precisionbased approach to treating mental disorders and facilitate a more robust reverse translation across animal species. We conclude with ethical considerations for any field that aims to bridge artificial intelligence and patient monitoring.