Muscimol (MC)

Muscimolis the major psychoactive alkaloid present in many mushrooms of the Amanita genus. Muscimol is a potent, selective agonist for the GABAA receptors and displays sedative-hypnotic effects. Muscimol is the psychoactive compound responsible for the effects of Amanita muscaria intoxication. Ibotenic acid, a neurotoxic secondary metabolite of Amanita muscaria, serves as a prodrug to muscimol when the mushroom is ingested or dried, converting to muscimol via decarboxylation. Muscimol is a potent GABAA agonist, activating the receptor for the brain's major inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA. Muscimol actually binds to the same site on the GABAA receptor complex as GABA itself, as opposed to other GABAergic drugs such as barbiturates and benzodiazepines which bind to separate regulatory sites.