Khazipov Roustem
INMED-INSERM U901, 13273 Marseille Cedex 09, France Aix-Marseille University, 13273 Marseille Cedex 09, France Laboratory of Neurobiology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2016 Jan 8;6(2):a022764. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a022764.
γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the cerebral cortex. GABAergic inhibition enables synchronization of activity in cortical networks, and contributes to generation of variety of brain activity patterns. In relation to epilepsy, GABAergic inhibition has been traditionally viewed as the main mechanism counterbalancing glutamatergic excitation and preventing hypersynchronous neuronal discharges. Indeed, deficits in GABAergic functions most commonly result in a hyperexcitable epileptic state, and many of the currently used antiepileptic drugs act through enhancement of GABAergic functions. However, a number of observations show that some epileptiform activity patterns involve synchronization by GABAergic mechanisms. These include two main categories that will be reviewed here: (1) synchronization of epileptiform oscillations based on GABAergic inhibition, and (2) epileptiform events driven by depolarizing and excitatory GABA. The conclusion is reached that GABAergic control of spike timing, either through inhibition or excitation under certain conditions, may work as a powerful synchronizing mechanism during epilepsy.
γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）是大脑皮层中的主要抑制性神经递质。GABA能抑制作用使皮层网络中的活动同步，并有助于产生各种脑活动模式。与癫痫相关的是，传统上认为GABA能抑制是平衡谷氨酸能兴奋并防止神经元超同步放电的主要机制。事实上，GABA能功能缺陷最常导致过度兴奋的癫痫状态，并且许多目前使用的抗癫痫药物通过增强GABA能功能起作用。然而，一些观察结果表明，某些癫痫样活动模式涉及GABA能机制介导的同步。这包括将在此处进行综述的两个主要类别：（1）基于GABA能抑制的癫痫样振荡同步，以及（2）由去极化和兴奋性GABA驱动的癫痫样事件。得出的结论是，在某些条件下，GABA能对尖峰时间的控制，无论是通过抑制还是兴奋，在癫痫发作期间都可能作为一种强大的同步机制起作用。
