NEUR 395 - Special Topics in Neuroscience

Credits: 1,2, or 3
Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

Prerequisites: NEUR 120 and junior standing. A seminar designed to provide the advanced student with a broader knowledge of the field of neuroscience. Specific topics will vary and will be determined, in part, by student interest. May be repeated for credit with permission and if the topics are different.

Topic for Winter 2012:

NEUR 395-01 (PSCY 395C): Neuropharmacology (3). Prerequisites: PSYC 111 and 250; or NEUR 120 and permission of instructor. Meets requirement 3 of the psychology major leading to B.S.; requirement 4 of the psychology major leading to B.A.; or requirement 3 of the neuroscience major. This course combines lecture and seminar elements to explore the physiological bases for drug action in the nervous system, with emphasis on cellular mechanisms. The course begins with an overview of quantitative pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and regulation of neurotransmitter systems. This is followed by examination of major psychoactive drug classes, with special reference to recent literature on their mechanisms of action. The role of neuropharmacology in the growth of our understanding of normal neurochemical function is stressed throughout. Stewart.