Psychopharmacology

A discipline that merges psychology—the study of cognition, emotion, and behavior—and pharmacology, which characterizes the effects of drugs. Psychopharmacology is a field of psychology that investigates the use of drugs and medications to treat mental disorders (Fig. 1). In focusing on understandin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: David J. Nutt, Peter L. Carlton
Format: Reference Entry
Language:English
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:A discipline that merges psychology—the study of cognition, emotion, and behavior—and pharmacology, which characterizes the effects of drugs. Psychopharmacology is a field of psychology that investigates the use of drugs and medications to treat mental disorders (Fig. 1). In focusing on understanding drugs that affect brain processes, especially thinking, feeling, and action, with a particular emphasis on those drugs that affect abnormalities in thought, affect (mood), and behavior, psychopharmacology is closely related to psychiatry. Understanding the effects of drugs on psychological processes entails examining the regulation of these drugs by neurotransmitters because drugs mediate their actions through changing these transmitters. Brain Emotion Mental disorders Neurobiology Pharmacology Pharmacy Psychology Psychotherapy
DOI:10.1036/1097-8542.554800