LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The course is inserted within the specific objectives of the study program whose aim is to provide the
students with the theoretical and methodological basis of scientific training in the psychological field, supporting them with an appropriate training in biomedical sciences.
Therefore, in short, the course of Elements of Neuropsychopharmacology aims to allow the student to develop knowledge on the pharmacological basis of the therapy. This will be reached through an integration of notions related to pharmacokinetics, molecular mechanism of action and the interaction of single classes of drugs with the pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms of the main psychopathologies for which the above drugs are proposed.
Finally, the course aims to allow the student to develop knowledge on the mechanisms of action of the most frequently used substances of abuse and on their pharmacological treatment.
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course the student, as far as he is competent, will be able: i) to know the pharmacological basis of the therapy of the main psychopathologies; ii) to know the main behavioral and / or unwanted effects of psychotropic drugs and the most common drugs of abuse; iii) to know the potential interactions between psychotropic drugs and between psychotropic drugs and psychotherapies (e.g. cognitive-behavioral therapy); iv) to understand the biological reasons underlying the variability of drug response and the critical importance of adherence to therapy.
The course will help to provide the student with tools that will enable him to improve his/her skills in relating to other professional figures (medical doctors, nurses) who, in an increasingly multidisciplinary approach, will be called to take care of the patient.