LSC-20061 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

By the end of this module, you will be able to discuss how medications that are aimed to treat neurological and mental disorders would usually apply their effects (e.g., binding to specific substrates).
You will be able to critically appraise preclinical trials (in models of disease) and evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention in the clinic (clinical trials).
You will be able to explain absorption, metabolism, solubility, ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, clearance (excretion and secretion), and toxicity (ADMET) of a drug of choice in neuroscience.
You will be able to discuss about drug-receptor interactions, dose-response (concentration response in models of disease) and how presence of confounding factors could alter distribution, metabolism, and elimination of drugs systemically or within the nervous system.
You will also be able to link basic principles of neuropharmacology, molecular mechanisms, and therapeutic index with wider disciplines such as population health, health economics, and neuroanatomy.
Finally, you will be able to critically evaluate advances made in neuropharmacology towards precision therapy and personalised medicine in recent years.

Students will learn about the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of medications used to treat neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders. They will learn about the pathways involved in drug discovery and novel approaches in treatment and management of neuropsychiatric illnesses.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Describe the biochemical basis and molecular mechanisms by which drugs regulate the neurotransmission to treat neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders in the preclinical and clinical settings: 1,2
Compare and contrast the therapeutic values, adverse-effects and/or side-effects of drugs: 1,2
Discuss how various classes of drugs can induce changes in the neuronal signalling to affect mood and behaviour or cause dependency or addiction: 1,2
Communicate findings from analyses of journal articles orally or in writing in their assessments in accordance with professional conventions in neuroscience: 1,2
Discuss the pathways in drug discovery and development in neuroscience from research and development to clinical trials: 1,2

Study hours

1) 11x1h Campus-based interactive lectures (weekly themed)
2) 11x3hr engagement with asynchronous material (short lecture videos, making notes and engaging with supplementary materials).
3) 11x1h tutorials (to review lecture notes): 30 min revision & 30 min flipped classroom (Journal Comprehension).
4) 1h drop-in session, presentation feedback/formative.
5) 8h assessment presentation session for journal presentation
6) 2hr Open book essay exam (within 8h window)
7) 84 hours independent study

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment