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Neuropharmacology

Neuroscience is a profession which deals with the study of the different aspects
of the brain, including its structure and function while pharmacology is a field
associated with the study of drugs. Hence neuropharmacology is an
interdisciplinary science which deals with the action of the drugs on the nervous
system. It involves the investigation of new drugs in different cell and animal-
based model system so that these can be developed as therapeutics for the
treatment of neurological disorders.

According to an estimate, there are approximately 86 billion neurons (brain
cells) in the brain and each of these form about 2500 connections with the other
neurons. Therefore, despite advancement in the field of science and technology,
little is known about how cells in the brain communicate with each other and
how malfunction in their circuitry is associated with the onset and progression of
neurological disorders. According to WHO, there are more than seventy million

A typical neuron structure

people affected worldwide with neurological disorders which majorly include
stroke, epilepsy, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and
Parkinson’s disease. Till date, there are no effective medications available for the
treatment of these as a result of which on an average 6.8 million people dies
every year with these diseases. Currently, available therapies are aimed at
providing only symptomatic relief and prolonging the patient’s life rather than
curing the underlying pathologies. Hence, there is an urgent need to look for
new mechanisms which could be targeted for finding an effective cure for these
diseases. Role of a neuro-pharmacologist spans from testing the new drugs for
their safety and efficacy at the laboratory scale (bench) and extends to the testing
in the clinical trials (bedside) which are done either on healthy human volunteers
or patients. Hence, this profession offers a wide range of opportunities to the

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