Recent progress in GABAergic excitation from mature brain

The excitatory effect of γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) has been recognized in very young animals and in seizure generation, but not so much in animals after weaning age or in adults. The existence of this phenomenon in mature brain is still controversial. In the course of debate, creative studies have identified and characterized the phenomenon in suprachiasmatic nucleus, cortex, hippocampus and basolateral amygdala, albeit mostly in single neurons. In neural circuit activity, presumed GABAergic excitation was observed in basolateral amygdala during the study of a neuropeptide, cholecystokinin. Though the functional meaning of this phenomenon in vivo remains to be uncovered, it may be implicated in epilepsy or anxiety in the adult brain.