[Mechanisms of the effect of diazepam on the paroxysmal electrical activity of an isolated strip of cat cerebral cortex].

Diazepam effect on paroxysmal electrical activity of an isolated auditory cortex slab and inhibitory responses of its neurons evoked by intracortical electrical stimulation were studied in experiments with cats. Diazepam (2 mg/kg, intravenously) evoked suppression of the paroxysmal electrical activity and increased the number of inhibited neurons both in acute isolated and three-week slabs as compared with the intact cortex. However in this case the number of disynaptic responses decreased, especially in the long-isolated slab. It is supposed that diazepam activated GABA-ergic inhibitory neurons synchronizing inhibition and increasing duration of IPSP. Its action is probably manifested in the first place in the very initial links of cortical neuronal chains.