Dizocilpine is an antagonist of the N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor, a glutamate receptor. Glutamate is the brain's primary excitatory neurotransmitter. The drug acts as a potent anti-convulsant and probably has dissociative anesthetic properties. It is not used clinically for this purpose because of the discovery of brain lesions, called Olney's lesions, in laboratory rats.