Claire Advokat received her Ph.D. in physiological psychology from Rutgers University, following which she completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York City. She then served on the faculty of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Illinois Health Sciences Center in Chicago. In 1989 she joined the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, where she served as the Faculty Senate President (2004–2005), retiring in 2012 as an emerita professor. Her research area is psychopharmacology, specifically drugs used in the treatment of psychiatric and behavioral disorders. She has published over 80 articles, and received funding for her studies from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Spencer Foundation, the Board of Regents of Louisiana, the State of Louisiana, and the pharmaceutical firm NPS. She received a university teaching award in 2005, served as an ad hoc reviewer for 20 journals, and serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Attention Disorders.

Joseph E. Comaty received his M.S. in experimental psychology from Villanova University; his Ph.D. in psychology with a specialization in clinical neuropsychology from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, in Illinois; and his postdoctoral Masters Degree in clinical psychopharmacology from Alliant University/CSPP in California. He is a licensed psychologist under the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP) and a licensed medical psychologist under the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners. He retired from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Behavioral Health in 2013 where he was the Chief Psychologist and Medical Psychologist and Director of the Division of Quality Management. He is an adjunct assistant professor in
psychology at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge and serves as emeritus faculty of the Southern Louisiana Internship Consortium (SLIC) in psychology at LSU. He has served as a member and chair of the LSBEP; he is a member and current chair of the RxP Designation Committee of APA, and a site reviewer for APA’s Committee on Accreditation. He is a member of the Model Act and Regulation Revision Committee for the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB). His research is in the areas of behavior therapy, pharmacology, and clinical psychopharmacology. He is the author of over 50 articles, book chapters, and presentations. He has served on federal grant review committees
and has been a reviewer for Psychiatric Services; The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences; and the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.

Robert M. Julien, M.D., received his M.S. and Ph.D. in pharmacology from the
University of Washington and his medical degree from the University of California at
Irvine. His many research articles focus on the psychopharmacology of sedative and antiepileptic drugs. Formerly an associate professor of pharmacology and anesthesiology at the Oregon Health Sciences University, Dr. Julien has retired from the practice of anesthesiology and is currently a psychopharmacology consultant in Portland, Oregon.

Part 1 Biological Basis of Drug Action
1. The Neuron, Synaptic Transmission, and Neurotransmitters
2. Pharmacokinetics: How the Body Handles Drugs
3. Pharmacodynamics: How Drugs Act

Part 2 Pharmacology of Drugs of Abuse
4. Neurobiology of Addiction
5. Ethyl Alcohol and the Inhalants of Abuse
6. Stimulants Part 1 Caffeine and Nicotine
7. Stimulants Part 2 Cocaine, Amphetamine, NonAmphetamine Stimulants
8. Hallucinogens
9. Cannabinoids
10. Opioids

Part 3 Drugs Used to Treat Psychological Disorders
11. Antipsychotic Drugs: Major Tranquilizers to Thymic Stabilizers
12. Antidepressant Drugs
13. Sedative-Hypnotic and Anxiolytic Medications
14. Drugs Used to Treat Bipolar Disorder

Part 4 Special Populations and Integration
15. Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology
16. Geriatric Psychopharmacology
17. Integration
Chapter 17 Appendix: Quick Reference to Psychotropic Medications