Activation of NMDA receptors initiates intracellular processes that facilitate the repetition of specific behaviors.

“and the increase in glutamate that's impinging on the neurons in that circuit would bind the nmda receptor making it change several important things the first of which is that your nervous system is capable of changing but that's an energetically demanding process so the incredible thing about neuroplasticity is that when you generate an unusually high or just an unusual pattern of activity motor activity or you're hearing a new language you're trying to learn that or you're navigating a new city the neurons are firing in ways that are a typical for them and they are firing a lot more and so the neurons are going to bind glutamate the nmda receptor is going to be activated and then Downstream of nmda receptor activation are a bunch of what we call intracell processes a bunch of things that happen in the cells to try and make that behavior occur again and again if needed”