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Thomas Südhof’s laboratory studies how synapses form in the brain, how their properties are specified, and how they accomplish the rapid and precise signaling that forms the basis for all information processing by the brain. The formation and specification of synapses, their properties and plasticity determine the input-output relations of neural circuits, and thus underlie all brain function. Moreover, increasing evidence links impairments in synaptic transmission to disorders such as Alzheimer’s diseases, schizophrenia, and autism, and Südhof’s laboratory aims to contribute to the understanding of these and related disorders.