Neuropharmacology
A comprehensive review of behavioral neuropharmacology covering methodology, major neurotransmitter systems, experimental evidence for behavioral functions, and drugs used to treat mental illness.
Summary
Past student reviews · Craig Berridge
Exams were challenging and focused on short-answer questions, though students noted the assessment style was fair.
What you’ll be able to do
Understand the strengths and limitations of the primary methods used in neuropharmacology.
Understand the basic principles of drug action as applied to neurotransmitters.
Identify the major neurotransmitter systems, including the location of the synthesizing neurons, and the different receptors and their second messengers for a given neurotransmitter.
Recognize evidence arguing for specific behavioral actions of select neurotransmitter systems and the limitations associated with this evidence.
Think critically about data and hypotheses related to neurotransmitter regulation of behavior.
Develop/refine skills for efficiently extracting key information from technical literature.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course map(PSYCH 454 or ZOOLOGY/PSYCH 523) and BOTANY/BIOLOGY/ZOOLOGY 152,PSYCH 225, or (BIOCORE 383 and 384)
- take one
- take one
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- All of
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
CRAIG BERRIDGE is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
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 |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Craig Berridge
Students found the class detailed and enjoyable, with clearly structured lectures that became easier to follow despite initially unintuitive slide organization.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.48 GPA, 59.1% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.88 GPA, 92.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.83 GPA, 87.0% A/AB (n=23 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Craig Berridge
Exams were challenging and focused on short-answer questions, though students noted the assessment style was fair.
Past student reviews · Craig Berridge
Historical instructor Craig Berridge was described as very accommodating for students who needed help.
Topics
- Methodology and major neurotransmitter systems.
- Experimental evidence for behavioral functions and drugs treating mental illness.
- Basic principles of drug action.
Skills
- Evaluate strengths and limitations of neuropharmacology methods.
- Apply basic principles of drug action to neurotransmitters.
- Identify major neurotransmitter systems, synthesizing neurons, receptors, and second messengers.
- Critically evaluate data and hypotheses on neurotransmitter regulation of behavior.
- Extract key information from technical literature.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
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
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"requirements_status": "needs_review",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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