Wade Regehr

[4] Chemical synapses are characterized by the presynaptic release of neurotransmitters that diffuse across a synaptic cleft to bind with postsynaptic receptors.

Regehr's study of short term synaptic plasticity (synapse strength during behavioral tasks) is relevant to neurological disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and depression.

[5] Regehr also was granted a scholar award from The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience for The Role of Presynaptic Calcium in Plasticity at Central Synapses in 1993.

The McKnight Scholar Awards are given to PhD candidates who have an interest in the study of disorders affecting learning and memory.

The funding establishes laboratories for emerging neuroscientists who can develop clinical neuroscience research.

Illustration of the major elements in chemical synaptic transmission. An electrochemical wave called an action potential travels along the axon of a neuron . When the wave reaches a synapse, it provokes release of a puff of neurotransmitter molecules, which bind to chemical receptor molecules located in the membrane of another neuron, on the opposite side of the synapse.
Schematic of a chemical synapse between an axon of one neuron and a dendrite of another. Synapses are specialised minute gaps between neurons. The electrical impulses arriving at the axon terminal triggers the release of packets of chemical messengers ( neurotransmitters ), which diffuse across the synaptic cleft to receptors on the adjacent dendrite temporarily affecting the likelihood that an electrical impulse will be triggered in the latter neuron. Once released the neurotransmitter is rapidly metabolised or is pumped pack into a neuron.
Drawing by Santiago Ramón y Cajal of neurons in the pigeon cerebellum . (A) Denotes Purkinje cells , an example of a bipolar neuron. (B) Denotes which are multipolar.