On May 30, 2008, Nature Neuroscience published an online paper from ION entitled "Critical role of TRPC6 channels in the formation of excitatory synapses". This work was carried out by graduate students Jian Zhou and Wanlu Du, under the supervision of Dr. Yizheng Wang. The transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels are Ca2+ permeable nonselective cation channels with different biological functions, but their roles in brain are largely unknown. The authors found that TRPC6 was localized to excitatory synapses and promoted their formation via a CaMKIV-CREB-dependent pathway. TRPC6 transgenic mice showed enhancement in spine formation and spatial learning and memory in Morris water maze. These results reveal a novel role of TRPC6 in synaptic and behavioral plasticity.