Study Programmes 2016-2017
SBIM0462-1  
Pharmacology and addiction clinic
Duration :
10h Th
Number of credits :
Master in biomedicine (120 ECTS)2
Lecturer :
Emmanuel Pinto
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents :
The main purpose of this course is to provide students with the molecular mechanisms shared by the addictive disorders (neuro-anatomy of the reward circuits of the brain, molecular, genomic and structural adaptation linked to addiction).
We also review the main addictive substances on a pharmacological, epidemiolocal, clinical and theapeutic point of view. Alcohol dependance is more precisely studied under its genetic, clinical and therapeutic specificities.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit :
The objective is to give the student a general overview of the common neurobiological mechanisms shared by the main addictions. Key-informations about the main addictive substances is a secondary objective of this course.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Ex cathedra courses with Powerpoint support.Key articles provided
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Face-to-face
Recommended or required readings :
Powerpoint presentationKey-articles :
  • Bowirrat, A., & Oscar-Berman, M. (2005). Relationship between dopaminergic neurotransmission, alcoholism, and Reward Deficiency syndrome. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet(1), 29-37.
  • De Witte, P., Pinto, E., Ansseau, M., & Verbanck, P. (2003). Alcohol and withdrawal : from animal research to clinical issues. Neurosci Biobehav R(27 ), 189-197.
  • Koob, G. F., & Le Moal, M. (1997). Drug Abuse: Hedonic Homeostatic Dysregulation. Science, 278(5335), 52-58.
  • Young, R. M., Lawford, B. R., Nutting, A., & Noble, E. P. (2004). Advances in molecular genetics and the prevention and treatment of substance misuse: Implications of association studies of the A1 allele of the D2 dopamine receptor gene. Addictive Behaviors, 29(7), 1275-1294.
Assessment methods and criteria :
Multiple choices questionnaire
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
Contacts :
epinto@ulg.ac.be