No course-specific feedback yet.
Spring 2027
Neuroscience of Psychedelics
Explores neural mechanisms of serotonergic psychedelics' therapeutic effects, linking serotonin receptor actions to cellular, network, and behavioral outcomes within models of perception, cognition, and consciousness.
offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Matthew Banks
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Describe experimental techniques and measurements used to probe changes in neuronal activity and connectivity and identify the major limitations of each method and propose approaches to overcome those limitations
Describe experimental techniques and measurements used to probe changes in neuronal activity and connectivity
Identify the major known classical psychedelic agents in terms of their chemical structure, targets (receptors, cells, brain areas) in the brain, duration of action, and suitability for administration in a clinical setting
Identify the major known classical psychedelic agents in terms of their chemical structure, targets (receptors, cells, brain areas) in the brain, duration of action, and suitability for administration in a clinical setting and also summarize the signaling pathways underlying cellular actions of psychedelic agents.
Demonstrate knowledge of the cell types and brain areas most likely to mediate distinct behavioral effects of psychedelics, and of the experimental support for these hypotheses.
Demonstrate knowledge of the cell types and brain areas most likely to mediate distinct behavioral effects of psychedelics, and of the experimental support for these hypotheses, and also demonstrate ability to identify gaps in experimental support for these hypotheses and to design experiments to fill those gaps
Identify and summarize the major behavioral assays of the psychedelic experience and of psychiatric disorders (e.g. depression scales).
Identify and summarize the major behavioral assays of the psychedelic experience and of psychiatric disorders (e.g. depression scales), and also identify and summarize the shortcomings of the major behavioral assays of the psychedelic experience and of psychiatric disorders (e.g. depression scales), and demonstrate ability to propose revisions of those scales to address those shortcomings.
Identify and summarize clinical applications of psychedelics, and the theories and factors contributing to their therapeutic benefit
Identify and summarize clinical applications of psychedelics, and the theories and factors contributing to their therapeutic benefit, and also demonstrate knowledge of the experimental support for each theory and factor.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗ average GPA
00 letter grades
No recorded grade history.
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapPSYCH/ZOOLOGY 523,PSYCH/NEURODPT/NTP 611, PHARMACY 770,PHM SCI 770, or graduate/professional standing. Not open to students with credit for NTP 632.
- PSYCH/ZOOLOGY 523
- PSYCH/NEURODPT/NTP 611
- PHARMACY 770
- PHMSCI 770
- graduate/professional standing
- credit for NTP 632
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- All of
- Any of
- PSYCH/ZOOLOGY 523
- PSYCH/NEURODPT/NTP 611
- PHARMACY 770
- PHMSCI 770
- graduate/professional standing
- Not eligible with
- credit for NTP 632
- Any of
Professors
Spring 2027Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 0 | 0 |
| LEC 002 | Online Only | 0 / 45 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Explore the neural mechanisms of the therapeutic effects of serotonergic psychedelics, focusing on how the actions of these drugs at specific serotonin receptor subtypes might couple to cellular, network, and behavioral effects, and how these mechanisms intersect with current models of the neural basis of perception, cognition, and consciousness. Not open to students with credit for PHARMACY 632 prior to fall 2026.
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Serotonin receptor subtypes and their coupling to cellular, network, and behavioral effects
- Intersection of psychedelic mechanisms with models of perception, cognition, and consciousness
- Clinical applications of psychedelics and theories of their therapeutic benefit
Skills
- Describe experimental techniques for probing neuronal activity and connectivity, including their limitations and potential improvements
- Identify gaps in experimental support for psychedelic behavioral effects and design experiments to address them
- Evaluate behavioral assays for psychedelic experience and psychiatric disorders, and propose revisions to address their shortcomings
Grades
Instructor
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
No grades available yet.
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Sources & history
UW–Madison
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
Neuroscience of Psychedelics
Recorded 2026-10-14Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:718:026623",
"course_id": "PHMSCI 632",
"course_uid": "course_86d157742bccb7503e888329",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "026623",
"source_subject_id": "718",
"title": "Neuroscience of Psychedelics",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
}
]Rate My Professors
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
No records available.
Madgrades
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesDataset & model
View the dataset on Hugging Face Recorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "3f14fc8b3057e86d68d30fabe29bf37c89d3b9d9f51e4dc25dd5f8cdcba68b45",
"requirements_status": "needs_review",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}