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Computational neuropharmacology: dynamical approaches in drug discovery.

Aradi I, Erdi P

Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.

Computational approaches that adopt dynamical models are widely accepted in basic and clinical neuroscience research as indispensable tools with which to understand normal and pathological neuronal mechanisms. Although computer-aided techniques have been used in pharmaceutical research (e.g. in structure- and ligand-based drug design), the power of dynamical models has not yet been exploited in drug discovery. We suggest that dynamical system theory and computational neuroscience--integrated with well-established, conventional molecular and electrophysiological methods--offer a broad perspective in drug discovery and in the search for novel targets and strategies for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Published 12 May 2006 in Trends Pharmacol Sci, 27(5): 240-3.
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