Although the discoveries of the efficiency of firsts antipsychotics were based on empirical observations [1]. Psychopharmacology is recognized as a full-blown medical discipline. Psychopharmacology encompasses a wide range of disciplines that can be explored using the analytical tools of modern biomedical research such as genetic, molecular and cell biology as well as functional imaging toward a better understanding the subtle cellular and molecular mechanisms, which will provide an impulse for research to develop new medical and scientific knowledge in Psychopharmacology.
 

The major challenge for researchers in psychopharmacology is to integrate the diverse knowledge from these different levels of analysis in order to establish a clear and consistent connection between different brain structures and brain function. This approach could provide a strategic link between the pathophysiology of psychiatric diseases and therapeutic development.

 
The completed sequencing of the genome in humans [2] and mice [3] allowed targeting the gene sequence in addition to the study of protein structure, thereby correlating genes with biological observations.
Moreover, brain imaging provides an opportunity to explore, noninvasively, brain areas and chemical composition of neural tissue [4].

 
Brain imaging, associated with other disciplines, such as psychiatric pharmacogenetics research, holds great promise for elucidating the link between neural circuits and molecular targets involved in the psychiatric pathophysiology. In addition, performing genetic analyses with brain imaging, can improve understanding of pathogenic mechanisms underlying psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and addiction [5].

 
Furthermore, transgenic mice models, reproducing several aspects of human pathology will allow progress in basic research to better understand brain pathophysiology, and they are also valuable reagents for in vivo testing for therapeutic development.

1. Swazey J (1974) Chlorpromazine in Psychiatry: A Study in Therapeutic Innovation. Cambridge, MiT Press.

2. Lander ES, Linton LM, Birren B, Nusbaum C, Zody MC,  et al. (2001) Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome. Nature 409:860-921.

3. Waterston RH, Lindblad-Toh K, Birney E, Rogers J, Abril JF, et al. (2002) Mouse Genome Sequencing C, Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genome. Nature 420:520-562.

4. Hanlon CA, Canterberry M (2012) the use of brain imaging to elucidate neural circuit changes in cocaine addiction. Subst Abuse Rehabil 3:115-128.

5. Falcone M, Smith RM, Chenoweth MJ, Bhattacharjee AK, Kelsoe JR, et al. (2013) Neuroimaging in psychiatric pharmacogenetics research: the promise and pitfalls. Neuropsychopharmacology 38: 2327-2337