Subpopulations of GABA-mediated synaptic potentials in slices of rat dorsal striatum are differentially modulated by presynaptic GABAB receptors.

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated synaptic potentials in rat dorsal striatum in vitro were reduced in amplitude by the GABAB receptor agonists baclofen and 3-aminopropyl-(methyl)-phosphinic acid (SK&F 97541), without any detectable postsynaptic effect. Synaptic potentials in 40% of neurones were distinctly multiphasic, the components of which exhibited a differential sensitivity to GABAB agonists. One population of GABA-releasing neurones within the striatum had presynaptic GABAB autoreceptors, whereas others were not directly affected by GABAB agonists.