Enhancing effects of acetazolamide on neuronal activity correlate with enhanced visual processing ability in humans

Acetazolamide is a potent inhibitor of the reversible hydration of CO2 catalyzed by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase and is commonly used to increase cerebral blood flow e.g. in order to estimate cerebrovascular reserve. However it is not known whether acetazolamide may positively affect the excitability of neurons in the brain in vivo or cortical processing abilities. To test these possibilities we intravenously administered a low dose (7 mg/kg) acetazolamide to volunteers who performed a demanding visual signal detection task while undergoing whole brain electroencephalographic examinations. Two groups were tested twice on the same task, while receiving acetazolamide or a saline treatment in between the two sessions. Our data indicate that, while the control group showed a decrease in global gamma (30–49 Hz) power across sessions, with no correlation to performance, the acetazolamide group showed increased global gamma power that strongly related to their performance in the signal detection task. This was accompanied by a decrease in the early part of the event related potential in the control group, a decrease not seen in the acetazolamide group. There were no significant differences in blood pressure, ventilation rate, or heart rate between the two groups. It is possible that the differences between the groups, observed in this study, are related to the enhancing effect of acetazolamide on the nitric oxide generation catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase, or to other actions of acetazolamide, e.g. opening of Ca2+ activated K+ channels and inhibition of Ca2+ channels.

► Low doses of acetazolamide increase EEG gamma power of human participants.
► Participant’s ability to discriminate visual stimuli changes accordingly.
► ERP’s in the visual stream diminish in control but not in acetazolamide group.