Gary Lynch received his Ph.D from Princeton and then moved to the University of California at Irvine where he is currently a professor. He is one of the most cited authors in neuroscience, holds 25 patents, and co-founded two publicly traded companies. Lynch’s work led the way to 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. As might be imagined, the chemical pathways underlying these remarkably persistent synaptic modifications are complex. He is also the co-inventor of ‘ampakines’, a class of drugs that enhance memory and stimulate the production of growth factors. He is currently using ampakines in an attempt to reverse the negative effect of aging on the anatomy and physiology of brain cells.