A sensitive and efficient assay method was applied to determine the level of glutamic acid (GA) and ${gamma}-aminobutyric$ acid (GABA) in frontal cortex and hippocampus of rat administrated with ethanol and drugs. The compounds were derivatized with ο-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and 2-mercaptoethanof for precolunm analysis. The condition for the simultaneous determination of GA, GABA and $eta-aminobutyric$ acid (BABA) by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection was reverse phase $C_{18}$ column as stationary phase, 0.1 M phosphate buffer containing 0.1 mM $Na_4EDTA$ : methanol = 55:45 (v+v) pH 3.8 as mobile phase and 0.7V electrode voltage. The stability of reaction product of GA, GABA and BABA with OPA could be increased by adding the same volume of polyethylene glycol 400 to reaction mixture. The GABA level in frotal cortex of rat was significantly decreased by the administration of picrotoxin and diazepam, but it was significantly increased by the administration of red ginseng total saponin, N-methyl-D-glucamine and (-)-deprenyl.