A Recipe for Bidirectional Motor Learning: Using Inhibition to Cook Plasticity in the Vestibular Nuclei

In this issue of Neuron, McElvain et al. demonstrate for the first time plasticity at the synapse between vestibular nerve afferents and their postsynaptic targets in the medial vestibular nuclei. This new type of plasticity, which is gated by inhibition, is well suited to drive motor learning during adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex.