Aim To provide an electrophysiological basis for hippocampus involved emotional changes caused by tinnitus, the effects of salicylate on electro-physiological characteristics of the voltage-gated calci-um channels in hippocampal neurons were performed. Method The effects of salicylate on voltage-gated cal-cium channels in rat hippocampal neurons were stud-ied, using the whole-cell voltage clamp method. Re-sults Salicylate blocked the voltage-gated calcium channels ( ICa ) in a concentration-dependent manner (0.1~10 mmol · L-1 ) . The half-inhibition concen-tration ( IC50 ) values for the blocking action of salicy-late on ICa were 1.64 mmol·L-1 . With 1 mmol·L-1 salicylate applicalted into bath solution, the steady-state activation curve of calcium channel was shifted by about 9 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction, and its steady-state inactivation curve was not changed. Con-clusion Salicylate inhibits ICa in rat hippocampal neu-rons and significantly affects the activation kinetics of ICa ,which could be related to emotional changes caused by tinnitus.