Definition of "pentylenetetrazol" []

• A drug, C6H10N4, that is a stimulant of the central nervous system and is used chiefly as an analeptic. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "We then added a subhypnotic dose of barbital and found that the combined action of this drug and nitrous oxide could be antagonized, and the increase in partial pressure of nitrous oxide needed to inhibit the righting reflex could be used as a measure of pentylenetetrazol action."
• "To measure the action of pentylenetetrazol Ahlgren proposed to employ its awakening action against central depressants."
• "Georg Theander, a topic to investigate, i.e. to measure the duration of action of pentylenetetrazol (Cardiazol), a convulsant at that time frequently used as an "artaleptic" to wake up people who had taken an overdose of a hypnotic or sedative, and also used as a forerunner of electroconvulsive therapy."