The transgene expresses a novel tetracycline transactivator (tT) protein variant with optimized codons and, in place of the strong Herpes simplex VP16 activation domain, three ~14-amino acid minimal activation domains under the control of a forebrain-specific promoter fragment, comprising 8.5 kb of 5' flanking sequence and 84 base pairs of the first, noncoding exon, of the mouse calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha (Camk2a) gene. (J:129344)