In the mammalian nervous system, neuronal activity regulates the strength and number of synapses formed. The genetic program that coordinates this process is poorly understood. We show that myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) transcription factors suppressed excitatory synapse number in a neuronal activity- and calcineurin-dependent manner as hippocampal neurons formed synapses. In response to increased neuronal activity, calcium influx into neurons induced the activation of the calcium/calmodulin-regulated phosphatase calcineurin, which dephosphorylated and activated MEF2. When activated, MEF2 promoted the transcription of a set of genes, including arc and synGAP, that restrict synapse number. These findings define an activity-dependent transcriptional program that may control synapse number during development.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 23. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 July 2025.
All research outputs
#1,811,864
of 28,924,746 outputs
Outputs from Science
#26,694
of 87,467 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,606
of 103,181 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science
#71
of 325 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 28,924,746 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 87,467 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 66.3. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 103,181 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 325 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 77% of its contemporaries.
