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The American Journal of Psychiatry, VOL. 134, No. 6

REGULAR ARTICLES | June 01, 1977

Benzodiazepines: behavioral and neurochemical mechanisms

Am J Psychiatry 1977;134:665-669.

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Abstract

The therapeutic effects of benzodiazepines in psychoneurosis may depend in part on their ability to release or disinhibit a patient's anxiety- suppressed gratification-seeking behavior. Benzodiazepines may disinhibit behavior by reducing the activity of serotonin (and possibly acetylcholine) neurons in the brain's "punishment" system. Reduction of serotonin transmission may be due to a facilitation of gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated presynaptic inhibition at the serotonin nerve terminal.

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