Multiple kinases converge on the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) to enhance the expression of proteins essential for long-term synaptic plasticity and memory. The p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) is one of these kinases, although its role is poorly understood. The present study exploited the technical advantages of the Aplysia sensorimotor culture system to examine the role of RSK in long-term synaptic facilitation (LTF) and long-term enhancement of neuronal excitability (LTEE), two correlates of long-term memory (LTM). Inhibition of RSK expression or RSK activity both significantly reduced CREB1 phosphorylation, LTF, and LTEE, suggesting RSK is required for learningrelated synaptic plasticity and enhancement in neuronal excitability. In addition, knock down of RSK by RNAi in Aplysia sensory neurons impairs LTF, suggesting that this may be a useful single-cell system to study aspects of defective synaptic plasticity in Coffin-Lowry Syndrome (CLS), a cognitive disorder that is caused by mutations in rsk2 and associated with deficits in learning and memory. We found that the impairments in LTF and LTEE can be rescued by a computationally designed spaced training protocol, which was previously demonstrated to augment normal LTF and LTM. In mammals, gene deletion studies have shown an essential role for the rsk2 gene in cognitive functions 1. In several animal models, the p90 isoform of RSK, expressed from rsk2, phosphorylates (i.e., activates) CREB after activation by the ERK isoform of MAP kinase (MAPK) 2-6. Coffin-Lowry Syndrome (CLS) is caused by X-linked mutations in rsk2, and is associated with human intellectual disability and skeletal abnormalities 7. A mouse rsk2-null model is deficient in fear memory consolidation and stimulus-induced CREB phosphorylation 1,8. CREB-mediated transcription is required for memory formation in vertebrates and invertebrates. In mammalian systems, many of the signaling pathways that lead to phosphorylation of CREB have been well characterized, including the cAMP/PKA pathway and the Ras/ERK pathway 9. However, the potential ERK/RSK/CREB pathway has received little attention as a potential contributor to synaptic plasticity, including long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term synaptic facilitation (LTF), and also to long-term enhancement of neuronal excitability (LTEE). LTP, LTF, and LTEE are known correlates of long-term memory (LTM). To our knowledge, no study so far has examined the effects of RSK inhibitors on synaptic plasticity or excitability. One study examined the role of RSK2 in LTP using a RSK2 mutant mouse 8. A negative result was reported-LTP was normal in the mutant. The negative result may be explained by the effects of RSK activation not being expressed during the period of observation (120 minutes), or a different isoform of RSK may have compensated for the mutant. Consequently, the role of RSK in long-term synaptic plasticity and enhancement of excitability remains unsettled. The present study exploited advantages of the Aplysia sen...