Access

Research Highlights

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9, 325 (1 May 2008) | doi:10.1038/nrn2387

Neuroprotection: Staying active = staying alive

Leonie Welberg

Overactivation of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors (NMDARs) can lead to excitotoxicity, possibly through the production of free radicals. However, Hardingham and colleagues now show that NMDAR activity in synapses, but not at extra-synaptic sites, in fact has neuroprotective effects through stimulation of an antioxidant enzyme system.