Glycine receptor-mediated inhibitory neurotransmission is key for spinal cord function. Recent observations suggested that by largely elusive mechanisms also glycinergic synapses display synaptic plasticity. We imaged receptor fields at ultrahigh-resolution at freeze-fractured membranes, tracked surface and internalized glycine receptors (GlyR), and studied differential regulations of GlyRβ interactions with the scaffold protein gephyrin and the F-BAR domain protein syndapin I and thereby reveal key principles of this process. S403 phosphorylation of GlyRβ, known to be triggered by synaptic signaling, caused a decoupling from gephyrin scaffolds but simultaneously promoted association of syndapin I with GlyRβ. In line, kainate treatments used to trigger rearrangements of glycine receptors in murine syndapin I KO spinal cords (mixed sex) showed even more severe receptor field fragmentation than already observed in untreated syndapin I KO spinal cords. Syndapin I deficiency furthermore resulted in more disper...