Leveraging Basic Science for the Clinic-From Bench to Bedside

This Special Communication offers the authors' thoughts on new approaches to psychiatric research using animal models and other techniques. Importance The tools and insights of behavioral neuroscience grow apace, yet their clinical application is lagging. Observations This article suggests that associative learning theory may be the algorithmic bridge to connect a burgeoning understanding of the brain with the challenges to the mind with which all clinicians and researchers are concerned. Conclusions and Relevance Instead of giving up, talking past one another, or resting on the laurels of face validity, a consilient and collaborative approach is suggested: visiting laboratory meetings and clinical rounds and attempting to converse in the language of behavior and cognition to better understand and ultimately treat patients.