Fig. 3. The effects of racemic thiopental on inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acid–mediated (GABAergic) currents. (A ) Representative traces showing the effects of 10 and 25 μm thiopental on GABAergic synaptic currents in the same neuron. The principal effect is a prolongation in the current decay (in this example, the decay half-time is increased by approximately 120 and 310%, respectively), with little or no effect on peak height. (B ) The amplitude of the inhibitory postsynaptic current (IPSC) decreases monotonically with increasing concentrations of thiopental, but the effect is small. (C ) The increase in total charge transfer (the total area under the IPSC) is plotted as a percentage change from the control value. The points represent mean values (for an average of 13 cells). In both cases the lines are drawn by eye and have no theoretical significance.