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Studies in the Laboratory of Cellular and Synaptic Neurophysiology (LCSN) use patch clamp electrophysiology, molecular, imaging, and immunohistochemical techniques to investigate the mechanisms controlling neuronal and cellular development and maturation as well as the regulation of excitability and plasticity in the mammalian central nervous system. The laboratory uses both physiological and pharmacological approaches to characterize inhibitory and excitatory synaptic transmission, developmental processes governing neural development, and the role of ion channel activity, with emphasis on excitatory amino acid receptors. Wide-ranging experimental approaches include patch clamp recordings from single neurons using infrared video microscopy, analysis of synaptic activity between pairs of neurons, high-resolution imaging of calcium and intracellular signals, and molecular and transgenic approaches. Working groups investigate mechanisms of short- and long-term plasticity of synaptic transmission and neuronal network activity, differential targeting of synaptic receptors, ion channel regulation of development and excitability, calcium signaling, and the regulation of gene expression in both neurons and glia.