Assignments

Students are required to complete a term paper on one of these topics. The chosen topic must be submitted by lecture 6 and the paper must be completed and submitted by lecture 16.

Please note: Information for your paper should come from journal articles or books. Use of peer-reviewed journal articles is strongly encouraged; references to websites will not be accepted.

Papers should be 10–15 double-spaced pages.

Topics

1. Many investigators believe that brain dopamine has a special and essential role in various types of addictive behaviors. Others disagree. Summarize the evidence pro and con; describe the treatments available for addictions and how these treatments do or do not support the view of dopamine's primary role; and suggest strategies that might lead to the development of more effective treatments.
   
   
2. Is schizophrenia caused by a disturbance in glutamatergic transmission? What is the evidence for this? Describe some alternate neurochemical theories. What drug treatments might you propose based on the hypothesis that deficient glutamatergic transmission is involved?
   
   
3. Discuss the various theories concerning the biochemical mechanism(s) of action of lithium in treating mania.
   
   
4. Describe the biochemical abnormalities and clinical symptoms associated with carcinoid syndrome. What are the drug treatments available, and how do they work?
   
   
5. Describe and critique the theories that attempt to explain why and how phenylketonuria causes mental retardation and behavioral disorders, and how existing treatments protect patients from developing these consequences.
   
   
6. Is cholesterol good or bad for normal brain function? How might deficient or excess cholesterol affect brain development? How might such an imbalance contribute to Alzheimer’s Disease?
   
   
7. Recent research has shown that neurodegenerative disorders may be the result of accumulation of abnormal proteins in the brain. For example, in Alzheimer’s Disease, a mis-processing of the amyloid-precursor protein results in the overproduction of the amyloid-beta peptide, which forms large aggregates in the brain. How would researchers determine whether abnormal proteins cause neurodegeneration or are a result of it? Give some examples of neurodegenerative disorders, the proteins that may underlie them, and current or potential drug therapies that target these proteins.
   
   
8. Do anti-oxidants work in treating neurodegenerative disorders (i.e. Alzheimer’s Disease)? What is the evidence, and how might anti-oxidant drugs work?
   
   
9. Discuss the current evidence that depression is principally associated with serotoninergic neurons, or with noradrenergic neurons, or with both? (Hint: depression is a heterogeneous disease.)
   
   
10. Medicinal marijuana is sometimes prescribed by medical professionals. Which disorders is it used to treat? What are the mechanisms by which it may work?
    
    
11. Under what conditions does apoptotic neuronal death occur in adults, and how might it be prevented?
    
    
12. Anti-epileptic drugs are widely used to treat mania and hypomania, and certain other psychiatric diseases. How did this come to pass, and how do you think these drugs are working?
    
    
13. Describe the neurological changes that underlie the dementia sometimes found in patients with Parkinson’s Disease. What treatments are available, and how do they work? What other brain disorders can cause both Parkinsonian symptoms and dementia?
    
    
14. Studies performed in the last several years have demonstrated the involvement of a number of brain peptides in appetite control. Describe the kinds of experiments that have been used, or could be used, to show that a brain peptide is involved in a particular behavior. For which peptides do you think the evidence is the strongest? There are at present no drugs known to affect eating by modifying peptidergic brain neurotransmission. How might you go about inventing such a drug?
    
    
15. Describe the evidence that the neural mechanism that causes some people to be excessively anxious can be related to those responsible for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Compare the drug treatments of various types of anxiety with those used for obsessive thinking or compulsive behavior.