The main subjects of investigation of Dr. Benfenati in the last 30 years have been the molecular mechanisms of information transfer among neurons and the application of new technologies to modulate neural activity in health and disease: (i) Elucidation of the mechanisms of neurotransmitter release, synaptic vesicle trafficking and synaptic plasticity and identification of the proteins involved. A long array of papers has, for the first time, put forward the functional role of synaptic vesicle proteins in the regulation of the multi-step process of neurotransmitter release and synaptic plasticity; (ii) Composition of the molecular machine that promotes membrane fusion during exocytosis and identification of the intracellular targets of tetanus/botulinum neurotoxins; (iii) Pathogenic mechanisms of synaptopathies in genetically altered mice lacking synaptic vesicle proteins as models of human neurological disorders such as epilepsy, autism and intellectual disability; (iv) Investigation of disease gene function mouse and human reprogrammed neurons; (v) Generation of engineered neuronal networks, neuro-electronic and opto-neural interfaces by exploiting optogenetics and photovoltaic interfaces. The double background of neurologist and cellular neurophysiologist allowed him to get in depth into the cellular mechanisms that underlie normal brain function and whose dysfunction leads to the pathogenesis of neurological diseases.