, Psychopharmacology:
Ancient history:
Once upon a time:
In a time before experimental psychology (19th century)
At the beginning of evidence-based medicine3 men rose to the challenge of
(self)experimenting with drugs…
For science of course!
• Pièrre-Alexandre Charvet
• Jacques-Joseph Moreau de Tours
• Paolo Mantegazza
Charvet:
“Opium for you! Opium for me! Opium for everyone!”
• Social turmoil and opium crisis
• First experimental pharmalogical studies
- Drug: opium, heroin, morphine
- Goals: test behavioral effects
- Subjects: animal experimentation, self-experimentation
Moreau de Tours:
“I had a dream to relate hashish to madness and delirious states.”
• From demonic possessed mentally ill to more humanistic approaches
• First to link mental illnesses to nervous system
- Drug: hashish/cannabis
- Goals: test behavioural effects
- Subjects: self-experimentation + comparison with delirious patients
Mantegazza:
“I had a nose for classifying drugs”
• Anthropological cultural explorations in South America
• First attempt of plant categorization based on psychoactive effects
- Drug: coca leaves
- Goals: categorize plants
- Subjects: self-experimentation + comparison with “psychotic craziness”
Influences from Psychology:
Experimental Psychology:
1
,Kraepelin:
Classification system
Dose-respons curves
Rivers:
Placebo controlled studies
2
, Blind and double blind protocols
Hollingsworth:
Chattanooga trials: USA vs Coca Cola Company
• Test caffeine’s safety
Comparative psychology:
= behaviour comparisons across species to understand human behaviour better
• Charles Darwin: “Expressions of Emotions in Man and Animals”
- Emotions = survival value
o Innate
o Adapted to environmental needs
o Adapted to social needs
- Emotions = shared across species
o Studying non-human species is a valid approach
• Critics: anthropomorphistic way of thinking
- = using frame of reference to observe and label behaviour
- Emotional experience can still differ across species
Behavioural Psychology:
Classical Conditioning of Pavlov
• Learning associations between stimuli
• Stepwise learning process
• Simple, but hard to define “stimulus”
3
Ancient history:
Once upon a time:
In a time before experimental psychology (19th century)
At the beginning of evidence-based medicine3 men rose to the challenge of
(self)experimenting with drugs…
For science of course!
• Pièrre-Alexandre Charvet
• Jacques-Joseph Moreau de Tours
• Paolo Mantegazza
Charvet:
“Opium for you! Opium for me! Opium for everyone!”
• Social turmoil and opium crisis
• First experimental pharmalogical studies
- Drug: opium, heroin, morphine
- Goals: test behavioral effects
- Subjects: animal experimentation, self-experimentation
Moreau de Tours:
“I had a dream to relate hashish to madness and delirious states.”
• From demonic possessed mentally ill to more humanistic approaches
• First to link mental illnesses to nervous system
- Drug: hashish/cannabis
- Goals: test behavioural effects
- Subjects: self-experimentation + comparison with delirious patients
Mantegazza:
“I had a nose for classifying drugs”
• Anthropological cultural explorations in South America
• First attempt of plant categorization based on psychoactive effects
- Drug: coca leaves
- Goals: categorize plants
- Subjects: self-experimentation + comparison with “psychotic craziness”
Influences from Psychology:
Experimental Psychology:
1
,Kraepelin:
Classification system
Dose-respons curves
Rivers:
Placebo controlled studies
2
, Blind and double blind protocols
Hollingsworth:
Chattanooga trials: USA vs Coca Cola Company
• Test caffeine’s safety
Comparative psychology:
= behaviour comparisons across species to understand human behaviour better
• Charles Darwin: “Expressions of Emotions in Man and Animals”
- Emotions = survival value
o Innate
o Adapted to environmental needs
o Adapted to social needs
- Emotions = shared across species
o Studying non-human species is a valid approach
• Critics: anthropomorphistic way of thinking
- = using frame of reference to observe and label behaviour
- Emotional experience can still differ across species
Behavioural Psychology:
Classical Conditioning of Pavlov
• Learning associations between stimuli
• Stepwise learning process
• Simple, but hard to define “stimulus”
3
