Abstract The NMDA receptor (NMDAR) is inhibited by synaptically released zinc. This inhibition is thought to be the result of zinc diffusion across the synaptic cleft and subsequent binding to the extracellular domain of the NMDAR. However, this model fails to incorporate the observed association of the highly zinc-sensitive NMDAR subunit GluN2A with the postsynaptic zinc transporter ZnT1, which moves intracellular zinc to the extracellular space.