Unit PHARMACOLOGY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
- Course
- Assessment of individual functioning in clinical and health psychology
- Study-unit Code
- A003057
- Curriculum
- Curriculum ii
- Teacher
- Oxana Bereshchenko
- Teachers
-
- Oxana Bereshchenko
- Hours
- 36 ore - Oxana Bereshchenko
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2024
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Affine/integrativa
- Area
- Attività formative affini o integrative
- Academic discipline
- BIO/14
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- General principles of drug action: Pharmacokinetics Pharmacodynamics Main classes of drugs that act on the central nervous system used for the treatment of different psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
- Reference texts
- Stephen M Stahl. Essential Psychopharmacology. EDI_ERMES Francesco Rossi, Vincenzo Cuomo, Carlo Riccardi. Pharmacology. Minerva Medica Edition. Derek Waller, Andrew Renwick Keith Hillier. Medical Farmacology and elements of therapy. Elsevier
- Educational objectives
- The lectures aim to introduce psychotropic drugs, the basic principles and therapeutic applications, and to provide the psychologist-psychotherapist with tools that can be of help in understanding the biological mechanisms of the main psychiatric disorders, neurodegenerative and developmental diseases and in the management of the patient. The course provides the student with an overview of psychoactive molecules, from drugs used in the treatment of the main psychological-psychiatric disorders and main neurodegenerative diseases, to the drugs of chronic pain therapy, sleep disorders, ADHD and substances of abuse including those of recreational use and innovative experimental therapies.
- Prerequisites
- The course makes numerous connections with clinical psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience and neuroanatomy, so good basic knowledge related to Physiology, Neurophysiology and Psychiatry is needed.
- Teaching methods
- frontal lectures
- Learning verification modality
- Oral exam or written test on the choice exclusively by the professor. For oral exam: discussion of main topics covered during the course. For written test: One open question and 24 Multiple choice questions.¿ Five possible answers of which only one is correct.¿ Exam duration 30 minutes.¿ The evaluation criteria will be based on the understanding of the topics covered, on the acquisition of the proposed concepts and methodologies and on the ability to apply them independently and consciously.
- Extended program
- A brief history of pharmacology. Definitions: pharmacology, drugs, psychotropic drugs. Therapeutic, collateral, adverse effects. Pharmacokinetics. Bioavailability of the drug. Basics of Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Elimination of Drugs. Methods of drug administration. Emivity. Frequency of drug administration. Pharmacodynamics: drug-receptor interactions. Dose-response curve. Potency, Efficacy, Therapeutic Index. Agonist-antagonist definitions. Competitive and non-competitive antagonists. The effects of chronic drug use. Tolerance. Types of tolerance. Dependency. Biological molecules - DNA; RNA; proteins. Receptors. Types of key receptors on which psychotropic drugs act directly. Ionotropic, metabotropic receptors. G protein-coupled receptors. Tyrosine kinase receptors. Signal translation cascade. Epigenetic mechanisms. Anatomical nd chemical bases of neurotransmission. Synapse pharmacology: Mechanisms by which drugs can interfere with synaptic transmission. The mechanisms of neurotransmitter inactivation: enzymatic degradation and transport. Elementary bases of the functioning of psychotropic drugs. Cholinergic system, functions of cholinergic neurons. Synthesis and degradation of acetylcholine. Two classes of Acetylcholine receptors. Mechanisms of action of agonists and antagonists of the cholinergic system. Dopaminergic system. Noradrenergic system. Serotonergic system. Excitatory amino acid-mediated neurotransmission (Glutamate). Inhibitory amino acid-mediated neurotransmission (GABAergic System). Anxiolytic and sedative-hypnotic drugs. Ansia and anxiolytic drugs. Amygdala and neurobiology of fear, neurobiology of anxiety. GABA and benzodiazepines. Insomnia therapy. Effectiveness. Side effects and toxicity. Tolerance and dependence. Mood disorders. Bipolar spectrum. Unipolar depression. Stress and depression. Antidepressant drugs. Definitions. Level of effectiveness. Dependency. Common side effects. Types of antidepressants: Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Tricycle antidepressants (TCAs); Serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs); Mechanisms of action. Directions. Effects. Therapeutic use of serotoninergic substances for the treatment of anxiety and depression. New fast-acting antidepressant drugs (Esketamine). Treatment of PTSD. Antipsychotic drugs. Typical and atypical antipsychotics: Mechanisms of action, efficacy, Side effects. Pain therapy. Analgesia and anesthesia. Anti-inflammatory drugs. Opioid analgesics and pain management. Mechanism of action. Receptors. Endogenous opioids. Pharmacokinetics of morphine and derivatives. Examples of opioid drugs and their use. Adverse reactions. Abstinence. Dependency. Psychostimulants and drugs of abuse. Mechanisms of action of the main drugs of abuse. Definitions Tolerance, dependence. Psychomotor stimulants: cocaine and amphetamines. Cannabis. Psychodelics. Adverse effects and possible therapeutic uses of psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA. Treatment of ADHD. Treatment of neurodegenerative diseases: Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementias, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Motor neuron disease (Amyotrific lateral sclerosis, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease). Underlying mechanisms, risk factors, therapies. Pharmacology for psychologists: what we can and cannot expect from drugs, how they can help or interfere with the psychologist's work.
- Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
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