Many diseases, conditions and illnesses that effect the nervous system are likely to occur because of defects in synaptic structure and function. It has hoped that understanding these microscopic structures used for nerve cell communication will improve the ability to treat neurologic diseases, injuries and exposures to toxic substances. Gary Westbrook, M.D. , is a senior scientist at OHSU's Vollum Institute. He also is a professor of neurology, and physiology and pharmacology in the university's School of Medicine. His laboratory has focused on how synapses work.
Synapses are the connections between nerve cells that mediate information transfer in the brain.
Most of his work has examined synapses in the hippocampus that play key roles in normal brain functions, such as learning and memory, and in neurological conditions such as epilepsy. He is an active clinical member of the Epilepsy Center at OHSU, a referral center for patients with seizures and epilepsy.