Immediate-early genes are believed to be involved in the neuron's ability to con vert short-term synaptic stimulation into long-lasting responses and thus contribute to the adaptive alterations involved in neuronal plasticity. Cellular immediate-early genes share a close structural homology with some viral oncogenes. Recent advances in cellular biology have identified the activation and deactivation of immediate-early genes as molecular mechanisms to control regulated and deregulated growth, cellular differentiation and development. In this view immediate-early genes may function as third...