The gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptor is a multisubunit chloride channel that mediates the fastest inhibitory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. This gene encodes GABA A receptor, beta 2 subunit. It is mapped to chromosome 5q34 in a cluster comprised of genes encoding alpha 1 and gamma 2 subunits of the GABA A receptor. Alternative splicing of this gene generates 2 transcript variants, differing by a 114 bp insertion.