Costa, Erminio (1924–2009)
Erminio Costa, Ph.D., contributed to the discovery of how serotonin works, demonstrating the importance of neurotransmitter turnover rates in understanding neuronal function.
He also determined that anti-anxiety drugs act by facilitating inhibitory brain mechanisms and that receptors function as supramolecular entities where transmitters and co-transmitters act to ensure synaptic plasticity. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1982.