Abstract
1 Bath-applied γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) enhanced, in a dose-dependent fashion, the amplitude of optic nerve-evoked monosynaptic excitatory responses of the frog optic tectum superfused in vitro at 7°C. 2 Muscimol was more potent than GABA in eliciting similar effects. 3 GABA-induced responses were antagonized by picrotoxin and were insensitive to bicuculline or strychnine. 4 Raising the bath temperature to 20°C reduced the potency of GABA on these preparations. 5 No significant effect of GABA on the compound action potential of the whole optic nerve was found. 6 These data indicate that GABA can amplify visual inputs to the tectum through bicuculline-insensitive mechanisms.

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