Beware the builders: construction noise changes [14C]GABA release and uptake from amygdaloid and hippocampal slices in the rat.

The effects of exposure to chronic noise and vibration, produced by construction work, on the release and uptake of [3H]5-hydroxytryptamine ([3H]5-HT) and [14C]gamma-aminobutyric acid ([14C]GABA) from rat amygdaloid and hippocampal slices were investigated. Noise-exposure resulted in increased release, with no significant change in uptake, of [14C]GABA from amygdaloid slices. In hippocampal slices, [14C]GABA release was also increased, but the changes in release were dependent upon the marked decrease in uptake of [14C]GABA into these slices. There was an increase in peak K(+)-evoked release of [3H]5-HT from hippocampal slices, but no other changes in [3H]5-HT release or uptake in either region were observed following noise-exposure. These findings may have important practical implications for the research carried out in laboratories exposed to construction noise and vibrations.