Primary cortical neurons were prepared from C57BL/6J mice embryonic day 17. The dissected cortical tissue was digested, triturated, and centrifuged. Cells were plated onto poly (L-lysine)-coated 24-well plates at 106 cells per well and cultured in NB-A with 2% B27 (Invitrogen, USA). After 24 h in culture, 5µg/ml cytarabine was added to inhibit the growth of glial cells in the medium and then changed to the original medium 48 h later. Neurons were cultured for 5 days and ready for experiments.