title: Effects of bath-applied GABA on the firing pattern of cells in an in vitro preparation of mammalian cerebral cortex.
abstract: The patterns of spontaneous firing recorded from 25 cells in slice preparations of rat cerebral cortex were characterised using inter-spike interval plots (ISI). Histograms of the ISI showed two peaks having modal values of 20 and 82ms, corresponding to episodes of high frequency bursts of action potentials, and a lower frequency, steady pattern of activity. Bath-applied GABA was shown to reversibly block the bursting activity, but had little effect on the lower frequency component. This effect of GABA could be abolished by the simultaneous application of bicuculline.
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000494:pharmacology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D001640:Bicuculline