Neuroscience-based Nomenclature (NbN)

The lack of a meaningful connection between the nomenclature of psychotropic drugs and the underlying neuroscience of these compounds has been a longstanding concern within the neuropsychopharmacological community.

Together with representatives from American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP),The International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), Asian College of Neuropsychopharmacology (AsCNP), and International Union of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR), the Neuroscience-based Nomenclature (NbN) task force was formed to address this concern.

The NbN is a publication and a digital application of psychiatric medications classified by their pharmacology and mode of action. The NbN is updated yearly, equipping clinicians with the latest insights in neuroscience in a way that can be applied to their treatment of patients on a daily basis.

The core principles of the NbN are:

To move from a disease-based classification (e.g antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, sleeping pills, mood stabilisers, etc.) to a pharmacologically driven classification, in order to shift from symptoms to mechanisms, from disease to pharmacology.
To open the gate to contemporary neuroscience insights and to incorporate recent findings in brain research in the classification of drugs that are used to treat psychiatric disorders.
To replace the 60-year-old nomenclature of psychotropics with an updated neuroscience-based nomenclature (NbN).
To provide an important teaching tool that reflects the depth and richness of the neuroscience fabric of psychotropics.

The products of the NbN include: