An impairment of cortical GABAergic neurons is involved in alkalosis-induced brain dysfunctions

► Alkalosis impairs cortical GABAergic cells in response to excitatory synaptic inputs. ► Alkalosis impairs the abilities of encoding spikes at these GABAergic neurons. ► Neuronal impairment is associated with the increases of spike refractory periods and thresholds. ► The final targets of alkalosis are voltage-gated sodium channels and glutamate receptor-channels.