Rachel I. Wilson

Discovered that endogenous cannabinoids (which mimic the active ingredient in marijuana) act as retrograde messengers at central synapses. Described one of the major advances in understanding of synaptic function over the last two decades. Made the first electrophysiological recordings from central neurons in the Drosophila brain in vivo, establishing Drosophila as a tractable model for studying neural circuit function at high resolution. Pioneered technique of recording from genetically labeled neurons in Drosophila; her lab was also the first to combine in vivo electrophysiology in Drosophila with targeted genetic manipulation of neural activity. Studies of olfactory processing yielded systematic descriptions of how sensory information is encoded at successive stages within a neural relay, revealing the logic of odor coding with unprecedented clarity. Determining that the neural activity patterns in olfaction may serve as a template for understanding other more abstract forms of neural representation, such as speech recognition or color. Awarded the MacArthur Fellowship (2008).