Benzodiazepines and central inhibitory mechanisms.
The effect of diazepam was evaluated on spontaneous activity and drug- and electrically-elicited inhibitions of neuronal activity. Doses of diazepam which did not change spontaneous firing rates markedly enhanced GABA-mediated inhibitions in rat cerebellum in situ and in tissue cultures of rat hypothalamus. The effects of diazepam were readily reversible, and could be antagonized by picrotoxin; no effect on glycine or norepinephrine-induced inhibition was seen. It is concluded that actions of diazepam are mediated, at least in part, by a specific increase in GABA-mediated inhibition in the central nervous system.
D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology; D003975:Diazepam / Q000494:pharmacology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology*
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D003975:Diazepam