Yale University
Dept. of Psychiatry
300 George Street
New Haven, CT
06511 USA

Tel: 203-785-2117

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Molecular Psychiatry Courses

Neurobiology of Drug Addiction

Neurobiology/Psychiatry
This course provides an overview of our state of knowledge of the mechanisms underlying drug addiction at the molecular, cellular, and neural systems levels. A combination of didactic lectures and student-led discussions of research papers will cover diverse areas, including the basic pharmacology of drugs of abuse, animal models of drug addiction, the neural substrates of drug reinforcement and addiction, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which drugs of abuse produce addiction. The application of this preclinical knowledge to clinical treatment of drug addiction will also be reviewed. The course assumes an introductory knowledge of biochemistry and cell biology. It is geared for advanced undergraduates, graduate and medical students, and clinical trainees in psychiatry and related disciplines.
Thirteen weekly sessions (2 hr/session). Each session includes a 1 hour didactic lecture and a 1 hour discussion of a research paper led by a student. Term paper required; no examination. The course is suitable for graduate students, medical students, advanced Yale College undergraduates, and resident physicians.

Offered on an "as needed basis." Aghajanian Library (Room S303, Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park Street, Medical School Campus) For further information, contact Georgia Miller at georgia.miller@yale.edu.

Biological Basis of Behavior

The goal of this minicourse, which is offered to first year medical students, is to provide an overview of the exciting discoveries that are now being made in understanding complex behavior at the neurobiological level. The objective is to integrate genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms with behavioral phenomena. Each lecture is followed by a clinical presentation to emphasize the important medical ramifications of this new approach to psychiatric disorders.

Course directors: George Heninger and Marina Picciotto

Teaching faculty: Faculty of the Abraham Ribicoff Research Facilities, Department of Psychiatry

Genes and Behavior (offered every other year)

This course focuses on how molecular genetic techniques have been used to establish a link between specific genes and their role in complex behaviors. Each class focuses on a current topic with lectures concentration either on a particular area of behavior or a specific experimental approach to studying the genetic basis of behavior. Different techniques are discussed, with a focus on advantages and limitations of new methods as compared with traditional approaches (e.g. gene knockouts vs. receptor antagonists). Topics include genetic techniques in non-mammalian systems, identification of candidate genes that may be involved in particular behavioral tasks, the role of transcription factors in neuroplasticity, the use of knockout and transgenic mice to study complex phenomena such as drug abuse or learning and memory, and linkage studies used to identify genes involved in psychiatric illness. The class meets once a week for two hours. The first hour consists of a lecture on a current topic involving genes and behavior. In the second hour, students present and critique two papers on the topic for general discussion by the class.

Last modified: March 26, 2004