Changes produced by diazepam in the effects of
-aminobutyric acid (GABA), applied microiontophoretically to neurons of the rabbit sensomotor cortex, were investigated. Diazepam was shown to strengthen the inhibitory action of GABA on spontaneous unit activity and to prolong the effect of GABA on the duration of the inhibitory pause in unit responses to afferent stimulation and to direct cortical stimulation. Diazepam did not change unit responses to microiontophoretically applied glycine, glutamate, or acetylcholine. It is suggested that diazepam increases the sensitivity of the receptors of the postsynaptic membrane of neurons to GABA.
Key Words diazepam - -aminobutyric acid - glycine - glutamate - acetylcholine - microiontophoresis - sensomotor cortex
Laboratory of Pharmacology of the Nervous System, Institute of Pharmacology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. V. Zakusov.) Translated from Byulleten'' Éksperimental''noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 82, No. 12, pp. 1448–1450, December, 1976.