The neural mechanisms underlying alcohol dependence are not well-understood. GABAergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are a relevant target for ethanol. They are inhibited by ethanol at physiologically-relevant levels in vivo and display marked hyperexcitability during withdrawal. In the present study, we examined the effects of the GABA(A) receptor agonist muscimol on VTA neurons ...

Both the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) and the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) have been implicated in the neural control of the cardiovascular response to stress. We used the GABAA agonist muscimol to inhibit neuronal activation and attempted to identify hypothalamic nuclei required for the cardiovascular response to air stress. Chronically instrumented rats received bilate...

The caudal fastigial nucleus (cFN) is the output nucleus by which the medioposterior cerebellum influences the brainstem saccade generator. In the monkey, inactivation of one cFN by local injection of muscimol impairs all saccades: ipsiversive saccades become hypermetric, contraversive saccades become hypometric, and saccades aimed at a target located in the upper or lower visual fields are bia...

A small amount of muscimol (1 microl; concentration, 5 microg/microl) was injected into the ventral and dorsal premotor cortex areas (PMv and PMd, respectively) of monkeys, which then were required to perform a visually guided reaching task. For the task, the monkeys were required to reach for a target soon after it was presented on a screen. While performing the task, the monkeys' eyes were co...

Effect of injection in third ventricle of GABA, the GABA agonist muscimol, and the GABA antagonist picrotoxin on the activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) and monoamine oxidase (MAO) in serum and succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) in plasma has been studied. Surprisingly, the AChE, BuChE, MAO and SDH enzymes activity were inhibited by GABA and muscimol, while they w...

The cortical migration process depends on a number of trophic factors and on the activation of different voltage- and ligand-gated channels. We investigated the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors in the neuronal migration process of the newborn rat parietal cortex in vivo and in vitro. Local in vivo application of the GABA-A antagonist bicuculline methiodide (BMI) or the ag...

The effects of a series of caprolactam derivatives with central depressant, convulsant or muscle relaxant activity were investigated upon gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor-ionophore binding to rat brain membranes using [3H]GABA, [3H]GABA, [3H]muscimol and [35S]-tert.-butylbicyclophophorothionate ([35S]TBPS) as ligands, and GABA responses in mouse spinal cord neurones in dissociated cell c...

The postnatal development of high-affinity 3H-muscimol binding to GABAA receptors was studied in the lateral geniculate nucleus, superior colliculus, frontal and visual cortex of the rat brain. In the lateral geniculate nucleus 3H-muscimol binding rises from day 10 through day 37 reaching the highest value during the entire development followed by a slight decrease until adulthood. In the super...

Previous work has demonstrated that injections of the γ-aminobutyric acidA (GABAA) agonist muscimol into the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) induce pronounced increases in the intake of solid foods and sucrose solutions, but do not potentiate water intake. In order to clarify the range of situations in which inactivation of the AcbSh potentiates ingestive behavior, we examined the effects of mu...

GABA(A) channels are ubiquitously expressed on neuronal cells and act via an inward chloride current to hyperpolarize the cell membrane of mature neurons. Expression and function of GABA(A) channels on airway smooth muscle cells has been demonstrated in vitro. Airway smooth muscle cell membrane hyperpolarization contributes to relaxation. We hypothesized that muscimol, a selective GABA(A) agoni...