Abstract: Abstract: Within the large family of excitatory ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) constitute a subfamily which involved in refinement of the neural circuits during development and various forms of synaptic plasticity. In recent years, increasing evidence indicates that different NMDA receptor subunits confer complex physiological and pharmacological properties. The number, distribution and subunit composition of NMDA receptors are not static but dynamic in a cell-specific and synaptic specific change during development and neuronal activities. The bi-directional changes in NMDA receptors are the basis of synaptic plasticity remodeling, and the abnormal regulation can lead to the occurrence of nerve - mental illness, such as cocaine addiction and schizophrenia

Key words: NMDA receptors, synaptic plasticity, receptor subunits