Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session
Course Description
The neuropharmacology course will discuss the drug-induced changes in functioning of the nervous system. The specific focus of this course will be to provide a description of the cellular and molecular actions of drugs on synaptic transmission. This course will also refer to specific diseases of the nervous system and their treatment in addition to giving an overview of the techniques used for the study of neuropharmacology.
Lecture Schedule
Four 1 hour lectures in January.
Course Prerequisites and Requirements
This course is open to both graduate and undergraduate students with a basic knowledge of neuroscience principles.
Course Requirements
Outline
The key topics covered in this course are listed below:
- Introduction to neuropharmacology
- Principles of neurobiology
- Neurotransmitter systems:
- Glutamate and GABA
- Catecholamines
- Acetylcholine and serotonin
- Disorders of the nervous systems and their treatment
- Techniques in neuropharmacology
Recommended Texts
The following texts are recommended for this course:
Meyer, Jerrold S., and Linda F. Quenzer. Psychopharmacology: Drugs, the Brain and Behavior. 1st ed. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 2004. ISBN: 9780878935345.
Nestler, Eric, Steven Hyman, and Robert Malenka. Molecular Neuropharmacology: A Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2008. ISBN: 9780071481274.
Cooper, Jack R., Floyd E. Bloom, and Robert H. Roth. The Biochemical Basis of Neuropharmacology. 8th ed. Oxford, USA: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780195140088.
Grading
There will be a final exam for this course. The exam will be a pass/fail multiple choice exam.
Calendar
| LEC # | TOPICS |
|---|---|
| 1 | Basics of neuroscience |
| 2 | The neurotransmitter systems |
| 3 | Neuropsychiatric disorders: anxiety, mood disorders |
| 4 | Neuropsychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, final exam |
