Drugs and Behavior
Neuroscience NROSCI 0081-7010
(11992)
College of General Studies
Fall Term 2013 (2141)
Lectures: Tuesdays 6:00 – 8:30 P.M.
241 Crawford Hall
Instructor: Debra Artim, Ph.D.
Department of Neuroscience
Office: 571A Crawford Hall
E-mail:
Office hours: . Tuesday 12-1 and 4-5 PM and Wednesday 2:00-3:00 PM or by appointment. If you have any questions or need help with any course material, please feel free to stop by during office hours or contact the instructor via e-mail to set up an appointment.
Course description: This course serves as an introduction to the fields of neuroscience and pharmacology by examining the effects of various substances on brain function. We will focus on the biological mechanisms through which psychoactive drugs produce changes in behavior. We will take an in depth look at commonly abused drugs such as amphetamine and alcohol, and discuss current theories of addiction. In the later lectures, we will focus on drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression, and how the mechanisms of action of these drugs give us insight into the biological basis of mental illness. There are no prerequisites for this course, but a high-school level course in chemistry and/or biology would be helpful.
Text: There is no required text for this class. Two optional texts are Drugs and Behavior: An Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology by William A. McKim and Drugs and Human Behavior by David M. Grilly.. A copy of each textbook will be placed on reserve at Langley Library.
Lectures: Lectures will be held on Tuesdays from 6:00 to 8:30 P.M. Because we will cover material in class that is not provided in the course notes, students are strongly encouraged to attend all lectures and take good notes. A 15 minute break will be given in the middle of each class.
Course Website: Course information including the syllabus, lecture notes and grades will be available online at: http://courseweb.pitt.edu. Lecture notes will be posted on CourseWeb at least 1-2 days prior to class time. It is recommended that you print out the notes to bring to each lecture. CourseWeb will also be used to post announcements as needed. Important announcements may also be sent to your university e-mail account (). If you use another account, please make sure that your Pitt account is forwarded. The CourseWeb Discussion Board will be used to solicit questions, and to post answers to commonly asked questions. This should be a valuable resource while studying for this course.
Information for students with disabilities: If you have a disability that requires special testing accommodations or other classroom modifications, you are encouraged to contact both the instructor and the Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.
Academic Integrity: Students in this course will be expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh's Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation for any reason during the semester will be required to participate in the procedural process, initiated at the instructor level, as outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. This may include, but is not limited to, the confiscation of the examination of any individual suspected of violating University Policy. Furthermore, no student may bring any unauthorized materials to an exam, including dictionaries and programmable calculators
Examinations and grading:
Examinations: The course is divided into three sections with an exam covering each section (100 points each). Exams will cover all of the material in class (unless the instructor indicates otherwise) and on any handouts. Therefore it is in your best interest to attend lectures and take good notes.
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Make-up exams: If you are unable to take one of the exams, you must contact the instructor BEFORE the date of the exam.
Quizzes: There will be a total of 8 quizzes, each worth 10 points. The lowest quiz score will be dropped when calculating your final grade. The quizzes will be available on CourseWeb approximately one week prior to the due date. Students must post their answers before class on the indicated due dates to get points for correct answers. More information on how to do this will be given in class. The purpose of the quizzes is to encourage you to study and become familiar with the material as well as the types of questions that will be on the exams. Since we meet only once a week, we will cover a good deal of material in each class and the quizzes should be a good way to help students prepare for the exams.
In class activities: Occasionally, there will be in-class activities such as small group discussions, short assignments, videos, etc. These will account for a total of 25 points towards your grade. If you miss class on one of these days, you will not be able to earn these points.
Extra credit paper: Students wishing to raise their grade may complete a paper on a chosen drug-related topic, which will add a maximum of 15 points to your cumulative score. This option will be discussed in more detail following the first exam. Any students interested in writing the optional paper will need to discuss their chosen topic with Dr. Artim.
Grading: Your final grade will be based on the total number of points you earn through exams and quizzes and in-class activities. The maximum number of points available for the course is 395 (excluding extra credit). The final grade for the course will be assigned according to the following grading scale:
Final Grading Scale: Fixed
A+ ≥98% A = 93-98% A- = 90-92%
B+ 89-87% B = 83-87% B- = 80-82%
C+ 79-77% C = 73-77% C- = 70-72%
D+ 69-67% D = 63-67% D- = 60-62%
Below 60% F
Course Schedule
Date Topic / Due dates
August 27 Introduction
Principles of Drug Action
September 3 Quiz 1 due
Neuroanatomy
Neurophsyiology: resting potential
September 10 Quiz 2 due
Neurophysiology: action potentials
Neurotransmission
September 17 Quiz 3 due
Neurotransmitters
Addiction: tolerance and dependence
Review for Exam 1
September 24 Exam 1
Addiction: reinforcement and animal models
October 1 Stimulants: amphetamine and cocaine
October 8 Quiz 4 due
Extra credit topic and references due
Stimulants: caffeine and nicotine
Alcohol
October 16 No class – fall break
(Monday classes meet)
October 22 Quiz 5 due
Cannabis
Opiates
October 29 Quiz 6 due
Psychedelic Drugs
Review for Exam 2
November 5 Exam 2
Depression
November 12 Antidepressants
Anxiety / Anxiolytics
November 19 Quiz 7 due
Schizophrenia / Antipsychotics
November 26 Quiz 8 due
Alzheimer’s disease
Inhalants
December 3 Parksinson’s disease
Extra credit paper due
Review for exam 3
December 10 Exam 3
*note, this exam occurs during finals week