If you have a superficial level of knowledge about neuroscience, you probably won’t associate psychostimulants with gamma-aminobutyric acid (more commonly known as GABA). Just as you learn in early biology that a mitochondrion is the “powerhouse of the cell”, you learn in early neuroscience that GABA is the “primary inhibitory neurotransmitter of the brain”. And while this is often true (exceptions are being found on a regular basis), it perhaps doesn’t do justice to the diversity of roles that GABA can play.
There are, for example, many instances of GABA having an inhibitory effect on another inhibitory neuron. This can in effect stop the inhibition, potentially allowing for excitation by another neurotransmitter. Exactly this happens every time you make a voluntary movement. Neurons in the striatum release GABA that inhibits the action of neurons in the globus pallidus. These neurons normally inhibit areas of the thalamus that are necessary for movement but when they are inhibited the thalamus is essentially freed up, allowing us to move.
