A comparison of the effects of flurazepam on gamma-aminobutyric acid mediated depression of cerebellar and cerebral cortical neurons.

With standard extracellular recording and microiontophoretic techniques, the effects of flurazepam on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) evoked depression of cerebellar and cerebral cortical neurons in rats have been studied. It was found that although flurazepam potentiated the GABA-mediated inhibition of most Purkinje cells (25 or 36), it caused only a weak potentiation of GABA action on some cerebral cortical neurons (14 of 37). The difference between the action of flurazepam in these two structures was statistically significant. The results confirm a previous report that the enhancement of GABA-evoked inhibition by benzodiazepines is more readily elicited on cerebellar cortical neurons than on cerebral cortical neurons.