Giant cell tumors of bone (GCTBs) are benign osteolytic neoplasms that can be treated with either gross-total resection or subtotal resection with adjuvant radiotherapy. For the rare GCTB of the temporal bone, close proximity to critical structures can produce functional deficits and make gross-total resection difficult to achieve without significant morbidity. We present the case of a 28-year-old woman with progressive facial paresis, otalgia, neck pain, imbalance, and subjective hearing loss. She was found to have a facial nerve mass centered at the geniculate ganglion extending into the labyrinthine segment and vestibule. We achieved gross-total resection with preserved facial nerve function as the tumor did not originate from the facial nerve and could be dissected free from the nerve. Final pathology was consistent with GCTB.

GABAB-receptors (GABAB-Rs) are metabotropic, G protein-coupled receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA. Their activation induces slow inhibitory control of the neuronal excitability mediated by pre- and postsynaptic inhibition. Presynaptically GABAB-Rs reduce GABA and glutamate release inhibiting presynaptic Ca2+ channels in both inhibitory and excitatory synapses while postsynaptic GABAB-Rs induce robust slow hyperpolarization by the activation of K+ channels. GABAB-Rs are activated by non-synaptic or volume transmission, which requires high levels of GABA release, either by the simultaneous discharge of GABAergic interneurons or very intense discharges in the thalamus or by means of the activation of a neurogliaform interneurons in the cortex. The main receptor subunits GABAB1a, GABAB1b and GABAB2 are strongly expressed in neurons and glial cells throughout the central nervous system and GABAB-R activation is related to many neuronal processes such as the modulation of rhythmic activity in several brain regions. In the thalamus, GABAB-Rs modulate the generation of the main thalamic rhythm, spindle waves. In the cerebral cortex, GABAB-Rs also modulate the most prominent emergent oscillatory activity-slow oscillations-as well as faster oscillations like gamma frequency. Further, recent studies evaluating the complexity expressed by the cortical network, a parameter associated with consciousness levels, have found that GABAB-Rs enhance this complexity, while their blockade decreases it. This review summarizes the current results on how the activation of GABAB-Rs affects the interchange of information between brain areas by controlling rhythmicity as well as synaptic plasticity.