A chemical compound that blocks GABA receptors in the brain and is used in neuroscience research to study how the brain's inhibitory signals work.
Derived from the plant genus Dicentra (formerly Bicuculla), from which it was originally extracted. The -ine suffix indicates it's an alkaloid compound, a type of organic chemical found in plants.
Bicuculline revolutionized neuroscience by letting researchers 'turn off' the brain's 'off switch,' allowing them to see what happens when inhibitory signals disappear—like flipping the negative in a photograph reveals what you expected to hide.
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