In 1983, Professor Graham Collingridge and colleagues made the seminal discovery that long-term potentiation (LTP) in area CA1 of the hippocampus was mediated by the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptor. LTP is a form of synaptic plasticity which underlies learning and memory. This pioneering research heralded the beginning of studies in the neuropharmacology of synaptic plasticity, a field in which Professor Collingridge is still internationally recognized as a leader.

The Special Issue of Neuropharmacology that marks this anniversary is entitled ‘Glutamate receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity’, and is edited by David Lodge, Zafar Bashir and David Jane.