Psychopharmacology: Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior

Synopsis

The First Edition of Psychopharmacology: Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior, published in 2004, was unique in its breadth of coverage ranging from historical accounts of drug use to clinical and preclinical behavioral studies to the latest research on drug effects in transgenic mouse models. Now extensively updated, the new Second Edition features:

• A new and timely discussion of emerging substances of abuse such as Salvia divinorum, “spice” or “K2,” and “bath salts.”
• Presentation of key biological concepts such as epigenetics to help students understand current ideas about how mental illnesses arise and how drugs act on the brain to treat these illnesses.
• Two new chapters that provide detailed information on various neurodegenerative disorders and the effects of neurotoxicants and endocrine disruptors on brain function and behavior.
• A student Companion Website that contains outlines, flashcards and key terms, select animations, and Web Boxes for further exploration.
• An Instructor’s Resource Library that contains all textbook figures and tables, lecture PowerPoints, and a test bank.

Student engagement with the material is fostered by opening each chapter with a relevant vignette and by providing breakout boxes presenting novel and, in some cases, controversial topics for special discussion. Box themes include History of Psychopharmacology, Pharmacology in Action, Clinical Applications, and The Cutting Edge. The book is lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs and line art depicting important concepts and experimental data.

Psychopharmacology: Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior, Second Edition is appropriate for undergraduate or beginning level graduate courses in psychopharmacology or drugs and behavior that emphasize relationships between the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs and their mechanisms of action.