Previous studies have shown that chemical modifications of sulfhydryl (SH-) groups with mercurial compounds in rat brain membrane preparations increase the binding of alpha-[3H]amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid [(3H]AMPA), a ligand for the quisqualate/AMPA type of glutamate receptors. In the present study we investigated the regional distribution of SH- group modification by quantitative analysis of autoradiographic images of [3H]AMPA binding in tissue sections. We also compared the effect of SH- group modification to that of the chaotropic ion thiocyanate (SCN-) which has been generally utilized to study [3H]AMPA binding sites. Low levels of binding sites were observed in the absence of potassium thiocyanate (KSCN), with binding predominantly found in telencephalic structures. The presence of KSCN induced a relatively uniform and large (four- to fivefold) increase in binding throughout the different brain structures. Pretreatment of the tissue sections with the SH- group reagent p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid produced a 0.5- to 1.5-fold increase in [3H]AMPA binding. The enhanced binding displayed a regional variation with the largest increase in binding observed in the outer layer of the parietal cortex whereas the lowest increase occurred in the striatum. These results indicate that SH- group modification of tissue sections produces an increase in [3H]AMPA binding similar to that observed in detergent-treated membrane preparations. Moreover they reveal that [3H]AMPA binding sites in different brain regions vary in their susceptibility to modification by SH- reagents, suggesting the existence in brain of a heterogeneous distribution of quisqualate/AMPA receptor subtypes.