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Despite what we may initially think of when we hear the term drugs, some are actually quite helpful. In fact, have you ever taken an ibuprofen or some other sort of painkiller? Then you have already taken drugs. During today’s talks, our speakers will be exploring how and why drugs impact our brains and the need to develop drugs to cure diseases.
What are drugs doing in the human brain?
Professor Mitul Mehta
(Professor of Neuroimaging & Psychopharmacology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London)
When you take a medicine or other drug that crosses into the brain it could have many effects. We use brain imaging to visualise these effects. Brain imaging comes in many flavours. We can assess the presence of specific molecules, brain structure, or look at brain activity. Also, some drugs act quickly, others slowly and some continue to have effects after they’ve left the body. This talk will show how what we want to know informs our choice of brain imaging method, with examples from 25 years of research with a range of drugs including psychedelics, ketamine, MDMA and antipsychotics.
Anxiety and memory loss in Alzheimer's: Looking for solutions.
Dr. Afia Ali
(Associate Professor of Pharmacology at UCL's School of Pharmacy)
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common chronic neurodegenerative disease worldwide, affecting 5-8% of people aged over 60. This disease is associated with symptoms such as progressive memory loss combined with anxiety, for which there are no safe medications yet. My talk explores how we can improve the quality of life of those affected by AD, by studying the brain pathways that cause their symptoms, facilitating the development of new medications to alleviate anxiety and improve memory function. Our pre-clinical work shows huge potential!
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