Visualization of NMDA receptor–dependent AMPA receptor synaptic plasticity in vivo

Insertion of AMPA receptors into the synaptic membrane is thought to be a central mechanism for controlling experience-dependent changes in synaptic strength, yet this has never been observed in real time in the intact brain. Using two-photon imaging, Zhang and colleagues were able to provide this missing piece of information by tracking the insertion of GluA1 in spines in mouse barrel cortex neurons during repetitive whisker stimulation.