Recent advances in molecular biology and complementary information derived from neuropharmacology, biochemistry and behavior have dramatically increased our understanding of various aspects of GABAA receptors. These studies have revealed that the GABAA receptor is derived from various subunits such as alpha1-alpha6, beta1-beta3, gamma1-gamma3, delta, epsilon, pi, and rho1-3. Furthermore, two ad...

Modulatory agents of gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors have been widely used for more than 40 years to treat anxiety, epilepsy, and sleep disorders; these drugs are generally safe, well tolerated, and effective. Recently, there has been a substantial growth in understanding of the mechanism of action of these drugs, which act at different sites on GABAA receptors. A variety of GA...

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is the one of the most common anxiety disorders. Despite its high prevalence, the disorder is still considerably undiagnosed and untreated. The disease places a massive burden on patient’s lives, affecting not only their social interactions but also their educational and professional activities, thereby constituting a severe disability. γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) s...

Changes in GABAergic inhibition occur during physiological processes, during response to drugs and in various pathologies. These changes can be achieved through direct allosteric modifications at the γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) type A (GABAA) receptor protein level, or by altering the synthesis, trafficking and stability of the receptor. Neurosteroids (NSs) and protein kinase C (PKC) are potent...

Fear can be considered as a functional defense behavior to protect living beings against dangerous situation. In our studies we have investigated the fear behavior in rats in elevated plus maze .The increase in two parameters percent of open arm entries (%OAE) and percent of time spent in the open arms (% OAT) and decrease in the percent of time spent in closed arm (%CAT) was considered as fear...

Fear can be considered as a functional defense behavior to protect living beings against dangerous situation. In our studies we have investigated the fear behavior in rats in elevated plus maze .The increase in two parameters percent of open arm entries (%OAE) and percent of time spent in the open arms (% OAT) and decrease in the percent of time spent in closed arm (%CAT) was considered as fear...

A developmental "switch" in chloride transporters occurs in most neurons resulting in GABAA mediated hyperpolarization in the adult. However, several neuronal cell subtypes maintain primarily depolarizing responses to GABAA receptor activation. Among this group are gonadotropin-releasing hormone-1 (GnRH) neurons, which control puberty and reproduction. NKCC1 is the primary chloride accumulator ...

Background: GABAA receptor γ2 and δ subunits are thought to be responsible for synaptic and extrasynaptic targeting. Results: We demonstrate here that α2 and α6 subunits can target δ/γ2 chimeras to synaptic and extrasynaptic sites. Conclusion: The α subunits play a direct role in GABAA receptor targeting. Significance: Different subunits of GABAA receptors encode intrinsic signals to control su...

GABAA receptors are a heterogeneous family of ligand-gated ion channels responsible for mediating inhibitory neurotransmission in the CNS. Since the identification of mammalian cDNAs encoding 13 GABAA-receptor subunits, the composition of native receptor molecules and their localization in the brain has been an area of intense study. We conclude that the number of major subtypes is probably les...

hippocampus is essentially involved in learning and memory processes, and is known to be a target for androgen actions. the high density of the androgen receptors in hippocampus shows that there must be some relationship between androgens and memory. androgen effects on spatial memory are complex and contradictory. some evidence suggests a positive correlation between androgens and spatial memo...