NS 131 Drugs in the Nervous system: welcome

This course covers several aspects of the actions of psychotropic drugs, drugs that affect the nervous system. You will read parts of the text, A Primer of Drug Action, to learn about how nerves work, especially the functions of synapses, where most drugs have their effects. You will also read several chapters of the text that focus on specific drugs. A major part of your reading, however, will be in primary scientific articles about drug actions. The articles present studies of behavior, epidemiology (study of health in populations), and brain changes with drug use.

We will examine alcohol, marijuana, anti-depressant drugs, and "ecstasy" (MDMA) as our principal examples or case studies. Then you will choose a drug to study in depth, using the primary literature, and you will do a final project researching a particular question about that drug.