The kinetics and pharmacology of voltage-dependent calcium (Ca) currents in primary cultures of hippocampal neurons were studied using the whole cell clamp technique. The low voltage-activated (LVA) Ca current was activated at -50 mV and completely inactivated within 100 ms. This current was insensitive to omega-conotoxin (omega-CgTx) and to the calcium agonist Bay K 8644. The high-voltage-activated (HVA) Ca current was activated at -20 mV and inactivated incompletely during pulses of 200 ms duration. The snail toxin omega-CgTx revealed two pharmacological components of the HVA Ca current, one irreversibly blocked and the other insensitive to the toxin. Bay K 8644 had a clear agonistic action mainly on the omega-CgTx insensitive component of the HVA Ca current.