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Pharmacodynamics

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

  • 8 Accesses

Synonyms

Drug impact

Definition

Pharmacodynamics is a branch of pharmacology that studies how a drug acts on a living organism, including the pharmacologic response and the duration and magnitude of that response observed relative to the drug concentration. The drug interactions involve receptor binding, receptor sensitivity, postreceptor effects, and other related chemical reactions. Pharmacodynamics, along with pharmacokinetics, helps explain the relationship between the dose and the response of a particular drug. The pharmacodynamics of a drug can be altered by disorders, aging, and other chemicals or drugs. Physiological changes associated with the aging body can alter the response to medications. Changes in both the production of neurotransmitters and receptor sensitivity have the potential to lead to adverse reactions that are at times unpredictable. Thus, as receptor sensitivity or availability is altered, the drug effect is altered as well.

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References and Readings

  • Bush, S. S., & Martin, T. A. (2012). Geriatric psychopharmacology. Geriatric Neuropsychology Practice Essentials, 15(1), 401.

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  • Franz, S. (1919). Review of vegetative neurology. Psychological Bulletin, 16(12), 411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maruff, P., Werth, J., Giordani, B., Caveney, A., Feltner, D., & Snyder, P. (2006). A statistical approach for classifying change in cognitive function in individuals following pharmacologic challenge: An example with alprazolam. Psychopharmacology, 186(1), 7–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mount Sinai Brain Injury Research Center, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Maya Balamane

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Stephanie A. Kolakowsky-Hayner

Authors
  1. Maya Balamane
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  2. Stephanie A. Kolakowsky-Hayner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maya Balamane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Independent Practice, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

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Balamane, M., Kolakowsky-Hayner, S.A. (2018). Pharmacodynamics. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1746

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