Gary Lynch, PhD

Gary Lynch is a professor at the University of California at Irvine. He is one of the most cited authors in neuroscience, holds 25 patents, and co-founded two publicly traded companies. Lynch’s work played a key role in forming the modern theory of how synapses encode memory. This involves a change in the shape, and thus potency, of connections that is stabilized by a reorganization of the subsynaptic cytoskeleton. Lynch’s group also uncovered a deep link between the memory encoding process and theta, an EEG rhythm that is prominent during learning. Collectively, these discoveries provided a detailed explanation for the rapid and stable storage of new information. Lynch’s longstanding interest in the enhancement of encoding led him to co-invent an entirely novel class of drugs (ampakines) that facilitate communication and plasticity in cortical networks. He received his PhD from Princeton University.