The effect of culture conditions, serum supplementation or chemically defined medium and the influence of thyroid hormone were studied on the development of the Na 2+,K 2+-adenosine triphosphatase (Na +,K +-ATPase) and on the intracellular content of K + and Na + ions in cultures which either were greatly enriched in a neuronal cell type, the cerebellar granule cells, or contained a mixed population of cells (brain reaggregates). Foetal rat brain reaggregates displayed lower Na +,K +-ATPase activity when cultured in chemically defined medium than in the presence of serum. Supplementation of the serum-free medium with thyroid hormone resulted in a rise in the Na +,K +-ATPase activity and [ +H]ouabain binding to levels similar to those found in the cultures grown in the serum-containing medium. Thyroid hormone had no significant effect on the Mg 2+-ATPase activity and on the intracellular content of Na + and K + ions. In the granule cell-enriched cerebellar surface cultures the Na +,K +-ATPase activity was lower when the cells were grown in chemically defined medium compared with the serum-containing medium, and the intracellular Na + to K + ratio was higher. Thyroid hormone had no effect on the Na +,K +-ATPase activity, [ 3H]ouabain binding or Mg 2+-ATPase activity. The hormone also failed to influence ATPase activities in cerebellar astrocytes maintained in chemically defined medium. Although thyroid hormone had no effect on the Na +,K +-ATPase activity of cultured cerebellar granule cells, treatment with the hormone resulted in a decrease in the ratio of intracellular Na + to K + ion content. The effect of the hormone on the Na +,K +-pump activity in live cells was therefore tested by estimating ouabain-sensitive 86Rb uptake. This was regulated as in other cell types, by the rate of Na + entry: the Na +-ionophore monensin trebled the rate of 86Rb uptake, which was also increased (+30–100%) by 10% foetal calf serum, the maximal response being obtained by about 20 min exposure to serum. The effect was completely blocked by the Na +/H + exchange inhibitor amiloride. The factor(s) in the serum responsible for the regulation of the Na +,K +-pump were, however, not the thyroid hormones, which failed to affect 86Rb uptake. On the basis of comparing thyroid hormone effects on the different cultures studied it was concluded that not every type of neural cell is target of the hormone action during development.