SOME NEUROCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF THE DEPRESSANT ACTION OF γ‐BUTYROLACTONE ON THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

γ‐Butyrolactone, a depressant drug of the central nervous system, has been investigated for its ability to alter brain levels of 5‐hydroxytryptamine, γ‐aminobutyric acid and acetylcholine in mice and rats; of these three compounds, only acetylcholine was changed in amount. Levels of acetylcholine in the cerebral cortex were increased by γ‐butyrolactone with a time‐course which closely followed the depressed state of the animal. Indirect evidence has been presented to show that in the mid‐brain and brain stem the change in acetylcholine level induced by γ‐butyrolactone is sharply localized in an area of the mesencephalon that contains the corpora quadrigemina.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1963.tb01493.x

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