The pharmacology of an insect ganglion: actions of carbamylcholine and acetylcholine.

1. Methods for presenting dose-response data for the ganglionic actions of cholinergic agonists (e.g. carbamylcholine) are compared, using the mannitol-gap technique for electrophysiological recording of synaptic events at the cercal nerve, giant fibre synapse of the sixth abdominal ganglion of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. 2. At concentrations around 10(-5)M, carbamylcholine has no effect on ganglionic polarization but potentiates the monosynaptic EPSP. At 10(-4)M and higher concentrations, ganglionic depolarization is accompanied by a reduction of EPSP. 3. Pretreatment with eserine (10(-6) M) considerably shifts the dose-response curve for acetylcholine so that synaptic transmission is consistently sensitive to 10(-6) M acetylcholine.