Synaptic activity regulates the expression of a set of neuronal gene products that are important for neuronal survival and differentiation, synaptogenesis and, ultimately, complex behaviour. Activity-dependent signalling pathways induce neuronal gene transcription by modulating the function of both transcriptional activators and repressors, and recent studies have revealed significant diversity in the mechanisms that control the activity of these transcriptional regulators. Investigators have begun to elucidate the distinct functions of individual activity-regulated transcription factors, and to explore how these factors cooperate to provide stimulus specificity in the initiation of neuronal transcriptional programmes.