They may not apply for the honor. Auerbach's research under this award will focus on acetylcholine receptors. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter involved in carrying chemical messages across certain brain synapses and across all human nerve-muscle synapses. This ion movement, in turn, triggers a whole cascade of events that eventually leads to muscle contraction. In the brain, neurons communicating with other neurons communicating with still other neurons is the physical basis of thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
Synapses are the key structures for information processing in the brain.
It is likely that many diseases will be traced to a failure of some aspect of synaptic communication. Once we understand muscle acetylcholine receptors, we will be much better able to understand other receptors in the brain which may play a more direct role in the generation of disease.