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Chapter 3 - Neuropharmacology and Neurochemistry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2025

By
David Cunningham Owens  and
Katie Marwick
Edited by
Niruj Agrawal  and
Norman Poole
Niruj Agrawal
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
Norman Poole
Affiliation:
South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
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Summary

Humankind came to substances early. Poppy pods have been found with Neanderthal burials and spiritual and other group practices, still seen today but with millennia behind them, bear witness to the role of induced experiential change in human social evolution. Despite generations of history, the knowledge to unlock what mind-altering substances might do and the substrates through which they do it has only started to reveal itself within living memory through development of innovative investigative methods and an expanding cast of centrally acting compounds with clinical and laboratory potential.

A widening, if somewhat artificial, distinction has emerged where those who seek to modify brain systems with patients are considered psychopharmacologists, while those seeking to unravel mechanisms are considered neuropharmacologists. Expertise may differ, but the quest of clinician and basic scientist is the same, each benefitting from knowledge of the other.

Keywords

receptorslithiumbindingreceptormetabolismclinicalcompoundsinhibition
Type
Chapter
Information
Essential Neuroscience for Psychiatrists , pp. 85 - 146
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Key References

Anderson, I, McAllister-Williams, H, eds. Fundamentals of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 4th ed. British Association for Psychopharmacology; 2015.Google Scholar
Brady, ST, Siegel, G. Basic Neurochemistry: Principles of Molecular, Cellular and Medical Neurobiology. 8th ed. Academic Press; 2011.Google Scholar
Page, CP, Pitchford, S. Dale’s Pharmacology Condensed: Dale’s Pharmacology Condensed E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2019.Google Scholar
Wolpert, DM, Pearson, KG, Ghez, C, Kandel, ER. Principles of Neural Science: The Organization and Planning of Movement. 5th ed. McGraw-Hill; 2013.Google Scholar

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