Taurine induces bicuculline/strychnine-insensitive dose-dependent inhibition of cortical visual evoked responses.

Modulatory influences of taurine on cortical visual evoked responses and their susceptibility to GABAergic and glycinergic antagonists were studied in adult rats. Taurine topically administered to the visual cortex produced dose-dependent inhibition of the positive-negative fast component of the cortical visual evoked responses. Neither bicuculline nor strychnine antagonized the taurine effect, as revealed by absence of a shift to right, a change in slope or in the taurine IC50 value in the dose-response curve. Results suggest that taurine-induced depression of cortical responses evoked in the visual cortex are mediated by receptors other than the GABAA and glycine receptors.