**Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Landa, PhD**

Institue of Neuroethology, Universidad Veracruzana, México

## **Jonathan Cueto-Escobedo, PhD**

Institue of Health Sciences, Universidad Veracruzana, México

**1**

backgrounds.

**Chapter 1**

Introductory Chapter: Behavioral

Behavioral pharmacology is a multidisciplinary field of science focused on exploring and understanding the effects of chemical substances, hormones, and drugs on the behavior of humans and experimental animals, all with the final objective of understanding the neurobiological substrate of behavior and contributing in the development of therapeutic agents or pharmacologic tools for research in neurosciences [1]. The relative new popularity and accelerated growth of neurosciences have simultaneously led to an exponential growth on the scientific literature on this area that has been produced every day [2–6]. That makes necessary new strategies to be ready in a field that has been constantly actualized; for example, years ago, students with different backgrounds, who are graduates of psychology, medicine, or chemistry, had to study postgraduate trainings to specialize in the field of neurosciences. Nowadays, students from diverse universities can apply a career in "neurosciences" that has been recently designed by the National Autonomous University of Mexico few years ago [7]. This is an example on how universities have adapted to offer a better preparation on neurosciences fields. In this sense, the present book also attempts to offer the reader a source of current knowledge in behavioral pharmacology from different

Despite the relatively brief history of the behavioral pharmacology, it has significantly contributed in the understanding of the importance of the environmental and behavioral factors that determine the effect of drugs and chemical compounds with potential therapeutic and toxicological actions that impact on the health of the human being or another organisms [8]. In this way, the experimental and clinical procedures into the behavioral pharmacology have permitted the identification of natural or synthetic substances with potential utility in the treatment of central nervous system disorders, including anxiety, depression,

In support, the present book is a multidisciplinary compilation that illustrates

the advancement and development of behavioral pharmacology supported in areas as pharmacology and psychology, experimental analysis of behavior, psychophysiology, and the recently called neurosciences such as neuroethology, neurophysiology, and neurochemistry, among others. In this book, the authors included and discussed results in the field of behavioral pharmacology and neurosciences. The chapters include scientific information derived from basic research in laboratory animals and the impact that this information has in the

and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases [9–15], among others.

Pharmacology - From Basic to

Clinical Research

*and Jonathan Cueto-Escobedo*

**1. Behavioral pharmacology**

*Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Landa* 

### **Chapter 1**
