1-Amino-3,5-dimethyl-adamantane (memantine) is a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist used in clinical practice to treat neurodegenerative disorders that could be associated with excitotoxic cell death. Because memantine reduces the loss of dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) in animal models of Parkinson's disease, we examined the effects of this drug on dopamine cells of the SNc. Besides inhibition of NMDA receptor-mediated currents, memantine (30 and 100 microM) increased the spontaneous firing rate of whole-cell recorded dopamine neurons in a midbrain slice preparation. Occasionally, a bursting activity was observed. These effects were independent from the block of NMDA receptors and were prevented in neurons dialyzed with a high concentration of ATP (10 mM). An increase in firing rate was also induced by the ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channel antagonist tolbutamide (300 microM), and this increase occluded further effects of memantine. In addition, K(ATP) channel-mediated outward currents, induced by hypoxia, were inhibited by memantine (30 and 100 microM) in the presence of the NMDA receptor antagonist (5S, 10R)-(+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate (MK-801) (10 microM). An increase in the spontaneous firing rate by memantine was observed in dopamine neurons recorded with extracellular planar 8 x 8 multielectrodes in conditions of hypoglycemia. These results highlight K(ATP) channels as possible relevant targets of memantine effects in the brain. Moreover, in view of a proposed role of K(ATP) conductances in dopamine neuron degeneration, they suggest another mechanism of action underlying the protective role of memantine in Parkinson's disease.