PHARMACOLOGY OF DRUG USE DISORDERS

Course overview

This course is based on the book Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior: The Pharmacology of Drug Use Disorders by Drs. John Brick and Carlton Erickson. Participants will explore the brain and discover the clinical and pharmacological issues surrounding drug abuse and dependence, including how psychoactive drugs affect cognition, behavior, and emotion; the brain/behavior relationship; the specific effects of major addictive and psychoactive drug groups; new definitions and thinking about abuse and dependence; and the medical and forensic consequences of drugs use. Course Outline: What is a drug? Is there a brain-behavior relationship? Pharmacokinetics: How do drugs get there and what do they do? Functional Neuroanatomy: Where do psychoactive drugs act? Neurophysiology: How do psychoactive drugs act? Alcohol: The socially accepted addictive drug Cocaine and other stimulant: Drugs that make us high Opioids: Drugs that calm our pain Nicotine: Of what value? Marijuana: The illegal recreational plant Inhalants: Not just bad breath! Hallucinogens: Drugs that make us crazy Antipsychotics: Drugs that make us sane Anxiolytics: Drugs that calm us down Antideptessants: Drugs that lift us up Addiction: The chronic mental illness Forensic issues in psychopharmacology