Glutamate excitotoxicity is caused by sustained activation of neuronal NMDA receptors causing a large Ca 2ϩ and Na ϩ influx, activation of poly(ADP ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1), and delayed Ca 2ϩ deregulation. Mitochondria undergo early changes in membrane potential during excitotoxicity, but their precise role in these events is still controversial. Using primary cortical neurons derived from mice, we show that NMDA exposure results in a rapid fall in mitochondrial ATP in neurons deficient in SCaMC-3/Slc25a23, a Ca 2ϩ -regulated mitochondrial ATP-Mg/Pi carrier. This fall is associated with blunted increases in respiration and a delayed decrease in cytosolic ATP levels, which are prevented by PARP-1 inhibitors or by SCaMC-3 activity promoting adenine nucleotide uptake into mitochondria. SCaMC-3 KO neurons show an earlier delayed Ca 2ϩ deregulation, and SCaMC-3-deficient mitochondria incubated with ADP or ATP-Mg had reduced Ca 2ϩ retention capacity, suggesting a failure to maintain matrix adenine nucleotides as a cause for premature delayed Ca 2ϩ deregulation. SCaMC-3 KO neurons have higher vulnerability to in vitro excitotoxicity, and SCaMC-3 KO mice are more susceptible to kainate-induced seizures, showing that early PARP-1-dependent fall in mitochondrial ATP levels, counteracted by SCaMC-3, is an early step in the excitotoxic cascade.