Glutamate and aspartate are endogenous excitatory amino acid neurotransmitters widely distributed in the mammalian central nervous system, Aspartate was shown to induce a large membrane current sensitive to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA receptor antagonists in Purkinje cells from mice lacking functional NMDA receptors (NR1(-/-)). This response was accompanied by high permeability to calcium, in contrast, no current was induced by aspartate in hippocampal neurons and cerebellar granule cells from NR1(-/-) mice, Several other glutamate receptor agonists failed to evoke this response. Thus, in Purkinje cells, aspartate activates a distinct response capable of contributing to synaptic plasticity through calcium permeability.