How do benzodiazepines, barbiturates and vigabatrin strengthen inhibition in different ways? · Grey Matter

Benzodiazepines bind the GABA-A receptor between its alpha and gamma subunits and make its chloride channel open more often when GABA is present, so they amplify inhibition only where GABA is released.

How do benzodiazepines, barbiturates and vigabatrin strengthen inhibition in different ways?

Benzodiazepines bind the GABA-A receptor between its alpha and gamma subunits and make its chloride channel open more often when GABA is present, so they amplify inhibition only where GABA is released. Barbiturates bind other sites on the same receptor and make each opening last longer, and at high doses they open it without GABA, which makes them more powerful and more dangerous. Vigabatrin acts upstream of the receptor: it permanently blocks GABA transaminase, the enzyme that breaks GABA down, so more GABA is available to be released.