Convulsion is the medical condition where body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly,resulting in an uncontrolled shaking of the body.The impaired inhibition of electrical activity in the brain is one of leading causes of convulsion.y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS).GABA acts at inhibitory synapses in the brain by binding to specific transmembrane receptors in the plasma membrane of both pre- and post-synaptic neuronal processes.GABAA receptor (GABAAR) is the most important inhibitory receptor,and is the target receptor of anticonvulsant drugs in the clinic.In this review,we describe GABAergic signaling mediated by GABAAR,the mechanisms of GABAAR and their expression,and the progress being made on understanding the role of GABAAR in convulsion with emphasis on the association between GABAAR mutations or GABAAR subunit expression and convulsion.We also describe progress of anticonvulsant drugs based on the GABAAR.
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