Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect cellular
function in the nervous system. There are two main branches of
neuropharmacology: behavioral and molecular. Behavioral
neuropharmacology focuses on the study of how drugs affect human
behavior (neuropsychopharmacology), including the study of how
drug dependence and addiction affect the human brain. Molecular
neuropharmacology involves the study of neurons and their
neurochemical interactions, with the overall goal of developing
drugs that have beneficial effects on neurological function.
Both of these fields are closely connected, since both are
concerned with the interactions of neurotransmitters,
neuropeptides, neurohormones, neuromodulators, enzymes, second
messengers, co-transporters, ion channels, and receptor proteins
in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Studying these
interactions, researchers are developing drugs to treat many
different neurological disorders, including pain,
neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease a