Adding Cognition to the Semanticscience Integrated Ontology

Abstract

The goal of the NIMH RDoC initiative is to establish a biological basis for mental illness that includes linking cognition to molecular biology. A key challenge lies in how to represent such large, complex, and multi-scale knowledge in a manner that can support computational analysis, including query answering. Formal ontologies, such as the Semanticscience Integrated Ontology (SIO), offer a scaffold in which complex domain knowledge such as neurological and cognitive functions can be represented and linked to knowledge of molecular biology. In this article, we explore the use of SIO to represent concepts in molecular biology and in cognition. We extend SIO to traditional cognitive topics by illustrating axioms for both an information-processing and a neuroscience perspective on reading. We next discuss the NIMH RDoC taxonomy and include SIO axioms for the units-of-analysis and functions-of-behavior dimensions. An example demonstrates its use of deductive reasoning to establish causal relations across RDoC dimensions. From a broader perspective this article demonstrates how informatics can assist in integrating work in clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, computer science, molecular biology, and philosophy.