Behavioral pharmacology explores the change in behavior (mainly in animals) in response to the administration of a drug or chemical substance. There are three general strategies in this approach: 1) the drug is used as a stimulant, 2) the drug is used to induce dysfunction, 3) the use of a specific behavioral or physiological effect induced by the administration of a particular compound (Branch, 2006). Behavioral research (in vivo tests) is also an important stage of preclinical studies, enabling the compound to be admitted to the clinical trials. In the most causes the time needed for clinical trial of a single molecule takes at least 4-15 years, which is a long-term and expensive approach. To speed up and streamline the process of searching for an effective therapy for diseases, the approach of drug repurposing/repositioning is used by administration the drug off-label. On this approach behavioral pharmacology provides confirmation of desired mode of action of drug in new therapeutic field. In this talk, I will present how behavioral pharmacology research looks like, how it is carried out and a few words about the future of in vivo research.

Branch, M.N., 2006. How Research in Behavioral Pharmacology Informs Behavioral Science. J. Exp. Anal. Behav. 85, 407–423. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2006.130-04