SFKKIL004U Neuropharmacology

Volume 2018/2019
Education

MSc Programme in Pharmacy or Pharmaceutical Sciences (Danish programmes cand.pharm and cand.scient.pharm ) - elective

MSc Programme in Medicinal Chemistry - elective

MSc Programme in Pharmaceutical Sciences (English programme) - elective

MSc Programme in Molecular Biomedicine (SCIENCE) - restricted elective

Content

This course will cover the neurobiology and pharmacological treatment of major psychiatric disorders, disorders of sleep and chronic pain. For each disorder, students will learn about the neurotransmitters, receptors, and neurotransmitter interactions involved, as well as different hypotheses linking dysfunctional neural circuits to clinical symptoms.

Based on this, the course will focus on the pharmacological profiles of drugs targeting each disorder, specifically discussing how the diverse pharmacological actions couple to therapeutic efficacies and adverse side effects. In this regard, comorbidities, pharmacodynamic and -kinetic interactions with other pharmacotherapeutics, and individual life style differences, will also be adressed to discuss issues of contraindications.

For each disorder, current and potential future therapeutic principles and novel pharmacological targets will be discussed. In this regard, the challenges of drug discovery and development will be addressed, including the choice of animal models to predict clinical efficacy and side effects.

Learning Outcome

At the end of this course, students are expected to be able to: 

Knowledge 

  • describe the structure and function of the brain, with emphasis on brain regions, neurotransmitters systems and their interactions.
  • describe the different types of psychiatric disorders, sleep disorders, and chronic pain states, including symptoms, the neurotransmitter systems involved, and pharmacological treatments, as well as knowledge about common animal models used in the research on the different types of psychiatric disorders, sleep disorders, and chronic pain states.

 

Skills

  • discuss the pros and cons of different pharmacological treatment approaches
  • critically evaluate pros and cons of both current and novel pharmacotherapeutic strategies based on an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of action of conventional treatments for the disorders covered in this course.

 

Competence

  • combine elements of their understanding to form ideas of new treatment strategies using available drugs.
  • combine elements of their understanding with other competences (obtained from e.g. other courses or from work experience) to explore novel pharmacological targets/treatment options.
Literature

Stahl’s “Essential Psychopharmacology”, 4th ed., 2013.

Selected scientific articles (original investigations and review articles) available at the course web page.

Teaching is based on the assumption that the students have acquired knowledge, skills and competences corresponding to those obtained by completion of the first five semesters of the BSc Programme in Pharmacy.
Lectures and tutorials
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 10
  • Exam
  • 2
  • Exam Preparation
  • 24
  • Lectures
  • 60
  • Preparation
  • 90
  • Preparation
  • 20
  • Total
  • 206
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination, 2 hours under invigilation
A mix between multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions and questions requiring descriptions and evaluation (essay-type questions).
Aid
Without aids

There is access to the following at the exam on Peter Bangs Vej:

  • Office (Word, Excel, Onenote and Powerpoint)
  • IO2 – the digital pen
  • Panoramic Viewer
  • Paint
  • Calculator – Windows' own
  • R – Statistical programme
  • MathType formel programme
  • Maple
  • ITX MC – multiple choice programme
  • Adobe reader

 

usb-stick is not allowed

Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Criteria for exam assesment

To achieve the grade 12 the student must be able to:

Knowledge 

  • describe the structure and function of the brain, with emphasis on brain regions, neurotransmitters systems and their interactions.
  • describe the different types of psychiatric disorders, sleep disorders, and chronic pain states, including symptoms, the neurotransmitter systems involved, and pharmacological treatments, as well as knowledge about common animal models used in the research on the different types of psychiatric disorders, sleep disorders, and chronic pain states.

 

Skills

  • discuss the pros and cons of different pharmacological treatment approaches
  • critically evaluate pros and cons of both current and novel pharmacotherapeutic strategies based on an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of action of conventional treatments for the disorders covered in this course.

 

Competence

  • combine elements of their understanding to form ideas of new treatment strategies using available drugs.
  • combine elements of their understanding with other competences (obtained from e.g. other courses or from work experience) to explore novel pharmacological targets/treatment options.