Despite major advances in its research techniques, the field of neuroscience has so far failed to develop neurobiological understanding of mental disorders and their remediation. However, this situation mainly results from the artificial, symptom-based, nature of current psychiatric definitions (i.e., DSM criteria) and its masking effect over information gained through neuroscience. Facing this problem, the US NIMH recently launched a drastic initiative- the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), to find future ways of classifying mental disorders using biologically-valid constructs. Nevertheless, in neurobiology this problem can also be dealt with in more immediate (and less radical) ways. To this end, we must first realize that DSM criteria are diagnostic tools and therefore do not capture many important features of mental disorders. This is unproblematic as long as DSM criteria are understood to index rather than constitute mental disorders. Yet, since most neuroscientists are not aware of this psychological aspect, basic research models attempting to conceptualize the etiology of mental disorders often consider core features and marginal symptoms as equal. The aim of this course is to provide an in-depth introduction to the functional organization of common psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. This course will introduce students with a theoretical framework that allows focusing on core cognitive impairments and their functional constructs in different mental disorders, and thus enabling them to better identify and translate core psychiatric features in their future models.