N121: Drug Addiction is taught Spring Quarter by Professors Christie D. Fowler and Stephen Mahler.
Dr. Christie D. Fowler
Dr. Stephen Mahler
Prerequisite: BIO SCI 99
Concurrent with NEURBIO 233
Course Objective:
Provides a comprehensive overview of topics in the addiction field, including drug pharmacology, models/approaches to investigate addiction, brain circuits, genetics, epigenetics, and the cellular and molecular biology of drug addiction.
By the end of the course, you should have a basic understanding of:
1. Principles of drug pharmacology
2. Strengths and limitations of the current models/approaches to investigate processes mediating addiction
3. Basic understanding of brain circuits underlying different aspects of addiction processes
4. Mechanisms of action for the most common drugs of abuse
5. Contribution of genetics and epigenetics in vulnerability to addiction and addiction-related processing
6. Current controversies in the addiction field
Sample Syllabus:
| # | Topic |
| 1 | Conceptualizing Addiction |
| 2 | Considerations in Studying Addiction |
| 3 | Cannabis and Synthetic Cannabinoids I |
| 4 | Cannabis and Synthetic Cannabinoids II |
| 5 | Tobacco and E-Cigarettes I |
| 6 | Tobacco and E-Cigarettes II |
| 7 | Presentation Techniques for Effective Science Communication |
| EXAM I | |
| 8 | Hallucinogens, PCP, and Ketamine I |
| 9 | Hallucinogens, PCP, and Ketamine II |
| 10 | Alcohol I |
| 11 | Alcohol II |
| 12 | Opioids, Clinical Perspective |
| 13 | Opioids I |
| 14 | Opioids II |
| 15 | Cocaine and Methamphetamine I |
| 16 | Cocaine and Methamphetamine I |
| EXAM II | |
| 17 | Project Presentation I |
| 18 | Project Presentation II |
| 19 | Project Presentation III |