ABAI’s Comments on NIH-Wide Strategic Plan Framework
Priority 1: Research areas
NIH Goal 1: Advance Foundational Knowledge of Human Health and Disease
Gordon Shepherd, in Neurobiology, observed that “nothing in neurobiology makes sense except in the light of behavior.” This principle captures a central scientific truth: Behavior provides the functional context needed to interpret neural mechanisms. Foundational progress in neuroscience depends not only on increasingly sophisticated biological tools, but also on careful experimental analyses of behavior. As Krakauer and colleagues argued, understanding behavior is not secondary to neuroscience; it is essential to explaining brain function and should precede many claims about neural causality (1).
Substance use disorders (SUDS) illustrate this point clearly. Knowledge of how choice, Pavlovian processes, and behavioral economic principles contribute to SUDs is grounded in the self-administration procedure, the gold standard laboratory model in this area. That model could not have emerged without basic research in operant and Pavlovian conditioning. Interdisciplinary work has linked these behavioral processes to activity in the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, striatum, and frontal cortex, clarifying the neural basis of voluntary behavior and choice. More broadly, Nestler and Hyman emphasized that progress in understanding pathophysiology and treatment development depends on strong animal models built around rigorous neurobehavioral analysis (2).
Similarly, basic research in Pavlovian conditioning has advanced understanding of fear and its neural underpinnings, including the amygdala and associated GABAergic, noradrenergic, and opioid systems. Research on stimulus equivalence and derived stimulus relations has shown how untrained relations among stimuli form equivalence classes that include public and private events, providing a framework for complex cognition and language. Advances in relapse research, including resurgence, renewal, and reinstatement, further demonstrate how basic conditioning principles reveal mechanisms of persistent pathology and generate novel strategies for prevention and intervention.
NIH Goal 3: Advance and Optimize Interventions, Treatments, and Cures
The translational value of this work is already evident. The self-administration model continues to guide development of prevention and treatment strategies for SUDs by integrating behavioral science with pharmacology and genetics. Trans-disease processes such as delay and probability discounting, relevant to SUDs, adolescent risk-taking, traumatic brain injury, and depression, are rooted in basic choice theory and behavioral economics and now inform interventions such as episodic future thinking and delay tolerance training. Recent advances in PTSD treatment likewise build on foundational work in fear conditioning, while research on derived stimulus relations contributed to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Needs from NIH
Basic, mechanistic research in operant and Pavlovian conditioning, choice, reinforcement-guided behavior change, and relapse requires sustained NIH support. Fundamental behavioral research must be prioritized on par with other pillars of neuroscience. Without that foundation, translation from discovery to intervention will remain limited and often superficial. A durable bench-to-bedside science requires mechanistic translation grounded in behavior.
- Krakauer, J. W., Ghazanfar, A. A., Gomez-Marin, A., MacIver, M. A., & Poeppel, D. (2017). Neuroscience Needs Behavior: Correcting a Reductionist Bias. Neuron, 93(3), 480–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.12.041
- Nestler, E. J., & Hyman, S. E. (2010). Animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Nat Neurosci, 13(10), 1161–1169. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2647
Priority 2: Research Capacity
NIH Goal 1: Develop and Sustain an Interdisciplinary Research Workforce
Each case outlined in our Priority 1 comments exemplifies a trajectory of mechanism- and curiosity-driven research, often beginning with animal models, that expands our understanding of behavioral phenomena and their clinical applications. These translations have succeeded—even when counterintuitive—because they rest on rigorous empirical support and robust theory. We continue to reap benefits from past basic research, yet new discoveries remain within reach.
Realizing these advances toward understanding neurobiological mechanisms and developing clinical interventions demands interdisciplinary teams that integrate scientists who are expert in behavior as a natural science with those skilled in other neuroscience domains. Extramural NIH funding is indispensable for assembling such teams and sustaining their transformative research.
NIH Goal 2: Build, Improve, and Sustain Research Resources and Infrastructure
Few researchers trained in traditional neuroscience disciplines—such as anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, genetics, or development—receive comprehensive instruction in basic behavioral processes. Yet such training is essential for new discoveries and their translation to clinical applications. NIH support for graduate training in behavioral science is as critical here as it is in other fields.
A cornerstone of behavioral research remains the maintenance of animal laboratories for mentors, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, as animal studies provide the primary platform for foundational discoveries. These facilities are costly and challenging for many departments to sustain, leading many academic departments to dismantle animal labs due to financial pressures. Without NIH support, we risk losing the fruits of prior research in basic conditioning processes and forfeiting the capacity for new discoveries.
NIH’s description of the priorities.
NIH-Wide Strategic Plan Framework
Priority 1: Research Areas
Goal 1: Advance Foundational Knowledge of Human Health and Disease •
Goal 2: Prevent Disease and Promote Health Across the Lifespan •
Goal 3: Advance and Optimize Interventions, Treatments, and Cures
Priority 2: Research Capacity
Goal 1: Develop and Sustain an Interdisciplinary Research Workforce •
Goal 2: Build, Improve, and Sustain Research Resources and Infrastructure
Priority 3: Research Operations
• Goal 1: Enhance Scientific Stewardship and Decision-Making
• Goal 2: Foster Transparency and Accountability to Improve Public Trust in Science