Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Seminar: 1 session / week, 2 hours / session

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Experimental Study Group (ESG)

The Experimental Study Group sponsors 5–10 six unit pass / fail seminars each spring on a variety of innovative subjects not covered in the regular curriculum. These seminars are open to all MIT students as well as ESG students and are intended to be hands-on and experiential in nature.

Credits and Grading

This class gives 6 units of General Elective credit. Note that the average MIT class gives 12 unites of credit. This class is graded Pass / Fail.

More Details

View the instructor's version of the syllabus (PDF)

Calendar

WEEK # TOPICS
1 Introduction
2 Drug Mechanisms, Explained with Antidepressants
3 Pharmacokinetics
4 Drug Addiction, Dopamine, and Liking vs. Wanting
5 Action Potentials, Alcohol, and Shock Therapies
6 Alcohol Antagonists
7 Dose-Response Curves
8 Anxiety and Sedatives
9 Psychosis, Antipsychotics, and Parkinson’s Disease
10 The Two Dichotomies
11 Recreational Drugs
12 Appetite and Nausea, Syringes