PSY 613 Psychopharmacology (4155) (4 credits)

An exploration of the mechanisms of action of psychoactive drugs. The manner in which drugs enter, distribute themselves throughout, and exit the body will be considered. The relationship between alterations in behavior produced by drug administration and the changes that the drug produces in the functioning of the nervous system will be emphasized. Topics to be covered include routes of drug administration, drug absorption, transport, and elimination, mechanisms of action, the histories of miscellaneous drugs, and the behavioral and biological activity of alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, the opiates, the hallucinogens, the antipsychotics, amphetamine, and cocaine.