Green color indicates FMRP immunoreactivity in NM neurons. Darker and lighter green indicate higher and lower FMRP intensities, respectively. Red arrow points to the onset of afferent deprivation. Normally innervated NM neurons are relatively uniform in FMRP intensity and cytoplasmic localization. Afferent-deprived NM neurons either maintain a largely normal FMRP pattern or exhibit large FMRP puncta at 2–6 hours. At 12–24 hours, FMRP puncta disappear in some neurons but persist in others. The latter group progresses with cell death as indicated by reduced cytoplasmic Nissl stain. Surviving NM neurons undergo subtle FMRP changes, leading to a small reduction in the mean FMRP level and a small increase in FMRP heterogeneity at 1–2 weeks. The homeostatic FMRP immunoreactivity is associated with cell body size, the overall level of ribosome activity (Y10B), the integrity of presynaptic terminals, and the intensity of inhibitory synaptic protein gephyrin. Abbreviation: h, hour.