Psychological Science: Psychopharmacology

Effects of drugs (both medical and recreational) on behavior. Topics such as drug effects on learning, memory, motivation, perception, emotions, and aggression. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2200, NSCI 2100, or NSCI 2105.

Prereqs enforced by the system: (PSYS 2002 or 2000) and (PSYS 2200 or NSCI 2100 or NSCI 2105); Junior and Senior standing only PSYS and NEUR majors and minors only PACE students by permission and override.

Psychopharmacology is the study of how drugs affect behavior. Students will build on their foundational knowledge of psychology and neuroscience to learn the biological basis of drug effects, such as treatments of neuropsychiatric disorders, and drugs of abuse.

Students will gain more in-depth knowledge of information and techniques in the field of psychopharmacology. They will enhance scientific writing and communication skills through writing news-worthy assessments of the state of research on current topics of interest. Along with this, they will improve skills in reading and research of the primary literature. Students should expect to spend approximately 6 hours per week on average outside of class (per University guidelines regarding work for a three credit course) on textbook reading, analysis of articles from the primary literature, and writing assignments. Required textbook: Psychopharmacology: Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior ISBN:9781605355559 Required textbook: High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society ISBN: 9780062015891

An array of assignment/assessment options will be provided from which students can choose how they wish to demonstrate learning and earn points. For example, students may choose from take-home tests, research design problems, short written reports on topics of their choosing, case study analyses, and additional small assessments such as annotated readings or periodic written synthesis/reflections of course material.