[2] Using advanced electrophysiological and microfluorometric methods, Gähwiler was able to identify the types of amino-acid receptors on Purkinje cells and the nature of climbing fiber responses in olivo-cerebellar co-cultures.
In the hippocampus, Gähwiler has made major contributions in the fields of opioids, acetylcholine, epilepsy, amino-acid receptors, and synaptic plasticity.
Together with Scott Thompson,[5] he has studied the role of ion transporters in the modulation of GABAergic synapses and characterized the presynaptic receptors controlling the release of neurotransmitters, mechanisms involved in the generation of epileptiform activity.
They also succeeded in developing an in vitro model of chronic epilepsy that allowed them to analyze the morphological and functional consequences of long-term overexcitation.
In pioneering work, they illustrated the potential of slice cultures for studying the properties of synaptic transmission and plasticity between monosynaptically coupled cell pairs.