Neurology, Addiction and Psychiatry Conference

Neuropharmacology and neurochemistry are two largely interlinked sciences that study the ways chemicals in the brain interact with drugs in the pursuit of changing neurological function to combat various diseases. Neuropharmacology studies the effect of drugs on the nervous system. Neurochemistry is concerning biochemical phenomena and substances that control what goes on in the brain, for example, neurotransmitters. Together, they provide key insights into the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, depression, and schizophrenia.

Neurochemistry is an important science inasmuch as it concerns the molecules affecting synaptic transmission that happens to be the form of communication between neurons. The key neurotransmitters are dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and acetylcholine, which are all implicated in the regulation of mood, motor control, memory, and thought processes. For instance, the chemical dopamine is related to the brain's reward system: imbalance of this chemical is the basis for neurochemical disorders such as Parkinson's disease and addiction. It, like serotonin, affects mood and emotions; imbalance with serotonin is characteristic of depression and anxiety disorders.

Neuropharmacology essentially explores ways in which such drugs may be modulated to affect these neurochemical pathways either to recover their balance or to enhance the functionality of the brain. Medications directed at certain neurotransmitter systems have become the mainstay in treating many neurological and psychiatric disorders. For example, agonists at dopamine receptors, used throughout for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, and SSRIs, now among the most widely prescribed drugs in the management of depression. The aim of neuropharmacological research is the discovery of drugs that might affect not only symptomatic mechanisms but, if feasible, also disease mechanisms themselves, especially in neurodegenerative diseases.

Neuropharmacological progress of recent years includes: presence of the blood-brain barrier, which has two faces: on the one hand, it is an obstacle to realization harmful substances to penetrate the brain; on the other hand, therapeutic drugs cannot penetrate from the blood into the brain; new delivery systems of drugs, especially nanoparticles and biologics, are explored.

The future directions in neuropharmacology would probably be more directed toward personalized medicine, where the genetic and neurochemical profiles of individuals would become bases for tailoring treatment.

This ensures that there is optimization of therapeutic outcomes with fewer adverse effects. Neuropharmacology and neurochemistry can never be separated from new treatments; they bring hope for better interventions in complex disorders of the brain.