Explore every episode of the podcast Neuroscientists Talk Shop

On September 10, 2026 we talked with Dr. Melissa Caras on the neurophysiology underlying perceptual learning in the auditory cortex. She defined perceptual learning, explained how it can be measured in animals, and described the changes in neuronal activity auditory cortex neurons associated with learning.

Guest:

Melissa Caras, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Maryland

Participating:

Alice Bertero, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Alfonso Apicella, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On September 3, 2026 I met with UTSA colleague Dr. Matt Wanat to discuss the role of dopamine in performance and learning of motivated behavior. Matt explained why it is difficult to make a simple general description of dopamine function.

Guest:

Matt Wanat, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On August 27, 2026 we met with our UTSA colleague Dr. Tony Burgos-Robles from UTSA to discuss his work on the contribution of prefrontal cortex to learning responses to threat and safety.

Guest:

Tony Burgos-Robles, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Participating:

Stephanie Villalon, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antoni

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On April 30, 2026, we met with Dr. Courtney Rouse from the Southwest Research Institute. We discussed approaches to designing machine learning methods for neuroscience data analysis.

Guest:

Courtney Rouse, Senior Research Engineer, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio

Participating:

Erick Olivares, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to James Tepper for original music.

On April 23, 2026 I met with Drs. Vanesa Nieto Estévez and Parul Varma to talk about brain organoids made from cells derived from patients with genetic childhood epilepsy. Vanesa and Parul explained how these patient-derived tissue cultures are used to isolate the defects in brain development that underly the brain disorder, and to suggest and test potential treatments.

Guests:

Vanesa Nieto Estévez and Parul Varma, Assistant Professors of Research, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On April 16, 2026, we met with Dr. Robert Froemke of New York University to discuss his work on parenting and co-parenting in mice. We covered a wide range of topics including his video approach to discovery in behavioral experiments and the role of oxytocin in parental behavior.

Guest:

Robert Froemke, Professor, Department of Otolaryngology and Department of Neuroscience at at New York University Langone Health.

Participating:

Alfonso Apicella, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Alice Bertero, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Jon Moler, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

On April 9, 2026 I spoke with Dr. Marcelo Marucho, on the electrical properties of actin filaments and microtubules, ubiquitous components of the cytoskeleton of nearly all cells. He explained how the surface charge of these proteins creates a thin charged layer in the adjacent cytoplasm in which electrical signals may be generated and conducted. In the case of microtubules, the interaction between external and luminal surfaces can produce oscillations. We discussed some of the possible functions of these electrical signals in the brain.

Guest:

Marcelo Marucho, Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On April 2, 2026 we met with Dr. Daniel Llano to discuss the organization of the largest subcortical auditory brain structure, the inferior colliculus. He told us about the three major subnuclei within the inferior colliculus, their synaptic connections with other auditory and somatosensory structures, and the problems encountered as we try to identify the cell types and local connectivity within the nucleus.

Guest: Daniel A Llano, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Participating: Marina Silveira, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host: Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On March 26, 2026, we held our annual UTSA Neuroscience Symposium entitled "From Place Cells to Cognition", featuring 5 speakers presenting original research on the cognitive functions of hippocampal place cells. They discussed the firing patterns of place cells during exploration of cognitive maps, anticipating future movements, recall of previously visited locations, and imagining the movement of objects in the environment. After the symposium, I met with the speakers to review some of the themes that emerged throughout the day.

Speakers:

Francesco Savelli, Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Annabelle Singer, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

Albert Lee, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University

Jill Leutgeb, Professor, Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego

Kamran Diba, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On March 19, 2026 we spoke with Dr. Se-Woong Park about the idea that many of the symptoms of Autism may arise from changes in brain mechanisms that allow us to predict events in the near future from those in the recent past. Topics included internal predictions of postural destabilization produced by our own movements, and prediction of the trajectories of moving objects. We discussed some experimental results testing this idea.

Guest:

Se-Woong Park, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology, UTSA

Participating:

Hyoung-gon Lee, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On February 26, 2026 we were joined by Dr. Peter Fox to talk about quantitative brain imaging methods and how they can reveal localized changes in brain structure in brain disorders that traditionally have not been associated with specific neuropathology.

Guest:

Peter Fox, Director, Brain Imaging Institute and Professor of Radiology, Neurology, and Physiology at UT Health San Antonio.

Participating:

George Perry, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

On February 19, 2026 we were visited by Dr. Dayu Lin to hear about her work on some of the cell groups that make up the hypothalamus and their function in activating innate social behaviors in mice, including parenting and protection of their young.

Guest:

Dayu Lin, Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Institute for Translational Neuroscience, Langone Medical Center, New York University

Participating:

Antony Burgos-Robles, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

Aayushma Kunwar, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

Thanks to James Tepper for original music.

On February 5, 2026 we met with Dr.Jonathan Bohmann to learn about the structure and function of acetylcholinesterase, the extracellular enzyme that controls the strength and time course of neurotransmitter at cholinergic synapses. He explained how computational models of molecular structure is be used to understand the functional properties of the enzyme and to design drugs that can modify its action.

Guest:

Jonathan Bohmann, Scientist, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio

Participating:

Jenny Hsieh, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On January 30, 2026, Fidel Santamaria returned to the podcast (after 18 years) to talk about the thermodynamics of ion channel activation and deactivation, and the changes in neuronal activity that occur with changes in temperature.

Guest: Fidel Santamaria, Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology.

Host: Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology.

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On December 8, 2025 we spoke with Dr. Matthew Goodwin about the use of wearable biosensor technology and machine learning to improve behavioral evaluation of autism, to provide real time alerts for caregivers and more effective interventions before the onset of potentially dangerous behavioral situations.

Guest:

Matthew Goodwin, Professor and Associate Chair of Research at the Department of Public Health and Health Sciences and the Khouri College of Computer Sciences, at Northeastern University.

Participating:

Leslie Neeley, Director of the Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute, and Associate Director of the Brain Health Consortium, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On December 4, 2025 we talked with Dr. Mike Beckstead about his work on changes in dopaminergic neuron excitability in the ventral tegmental area in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. Mike explained the molecular mechanism of the excitability change and the change in gene expression at its cause.

Guest:

Mike Beckstead, Professor and Hille Family Foundation Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Aging & Metabolism Research Program Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Participating:

Matt Wanat, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On November 20, 2025 we met with Dr. Cristian Lasagna-Reeves to talk about tau protein, its normal function, and what is known about how it aggregates to form the tangles seen in a variety of neurodegenerative brain conditions. We discussed the problem of determining whether the aggregates were causes or effects of the disease process, and whether reducing expression of tau might be an effective treatment.

Guest:

Cristian Lasagna-Reeves, Associate Professor, Dept. of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine

Participating:

George Perry, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Hyoung-gon Lee, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On November 13, 2025, we met with Dr. Maria Diehl, to learn about her experiments on avoidance learning in rats. The conversation focused on learning in a social context, in which one animal benefits from watching another learn the task.

We had to relocate this week, because of a noisy construction project in the hallway outside our usual room.

Guest:

Maria Diehl, Associate Professor in Psychological Science, Kansas State University.

Participating:

Tony Burgos-Robles, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Itamar Lerner, Department of Psychology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On November 6, 2025, I spoke with Dr. Jason O'Connor about the behavioral and psychological effects of inflammation, and their similarity to depression. Jason explained how inflammation can produce those symptoms by increasing levels of kynurenine and metabolites in the brain. We discussed the possibility that depression may sometimes result from a rise in those metabolites in the absence of inflammation.

Guest:

Jason O'Connor, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the UT San Antonio Long School of Medicine and the Audie Murphy VA Hospital.

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On October 23, 2025 we met with Dr. Peter Crino about how mutations occurring during cell division in the developing cerebral cortex can lead to localized developmental malformations of cortical structure and neurological disorders including focal epilepsy.

Guest:

Peter Crino, Richard and Kathryn Taylor Professor, Chair, Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Participating:

Jenny Hsieh, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio.

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio.

On October 16, 2025 we spoke with Sara Swinford-Jackson about effects of parental drug self-administration on motivated drug taking in offspring in rodents. Sarah discussed the approach taken to remove genetic and environmental contributions to isolate the epigenetic contribution, and to identify the biological mechanism.

Guest

Sarah Swinford-Jackson, Assistant professor of Behavioral and Cellular Neuroscience in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University.

Participating:

Matt Wanat, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio.

Alexey Soshnev, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio.

Ashley Miller, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio.

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio.

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On October 9, 2025 we met with Maria Geffen to discuss the how three kinds of inhibitory neurons in the auditory cortex each contributes to individual features of auditory experience.

Guest:

Maria Geffen, Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Neuroscience, and Neurology, University of Pennsylvania

Participating:

Alfonso Apicella, Department of Neuroscience, Regenerative and Developmental Biology, UTSA

Alice Bertero, Department of Neuroscience, Regenerative and Developmental Biology, UTSA

Jon-Paul Moler, Department of Neuroscience, Regenerative and Developmental Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Regenerative and Developmental Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On October 2, 2025 Dan Lodge returned to the podcast to talk about the physiological changes in brain circuits associated with schizophrenia. We reviewed the status of the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia and the brain circuits responsible for its negative, positive, and cognitive symptoms.

Guest:

Dan Lodge, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, Long School of Medicine, UT San Antonio

Participating:

Matt Wanat, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On September 25, 2025 we met with Daniel Dombeck to talk about cognitive maps and place coding by neurons in the hippocampus. Conversation topics included the spatial organization of cells with a map, mappings based on visual versus olfactory cues, changes in spatial scale with the size of the environment, and remapping of the place cells with changes in context.

Guest:

Daniel Dombeck, Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University

Participating:

Francesco Savelli, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Stephen Jones, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On September 18, 2025, and we got to talk with Ricardo Mozzachiodi about what was learned and what we continue to learn about the cellular and molecular basis of memory by studying simple behaviors in a mollusk, Aplysia california, the sea hare. Ricardo filled us in on the original rationale for studying cell biology of learning in this animal, and current findings on the role of neuromodulators in learning.

Guest:

Ricardo Mozzachiodi, Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi.

Participating:

Alfonso Apicella, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On September 4, 2025 we talked with Michael Roberts about exploring complex brainstem circuitry of the auditory system, identifying its characteristic cell types, connections, synaptic features and cellular dynamics. We discussed the challenges encountered in studying brain circuits in general, and the particular difficulties and opportunities that attend this effort in the inferior colliculus.

Guest: Michael Roberts, Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan.

Participating:

Marina Silveira, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On May 8, 2025 we met with Kevin Bieniek to talk about the nature of brain injury seen in chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes and others who experience repeated concussion. Kevin explained the commonalities and unique features of those injuries compared to neurodegenerative diseases.

Guest:

Kevin Bieniek, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Director of the Brain Bank at the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio.

Participating:

Melanie Carless, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On April 17, 2025 we met with Nicholas Priebe to describe developments in the study of neuronal representations of the visual world. We discussed the origin of variability the temporal patterns of responses, and the possibility that responses are influenced by non-visual pathways.

Guest:

Nicholas Priebe, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin

Participating:

Todd Troyer, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On April 10th (I said April 4th, but it was the 10th), 2025 we spoke with Punam Pokam about the molecular mechanisms that control osmotic balance of neurons and glia, and their changes after brain injury. She also explained the pathological membrane potential changes and ionic currents that are associated with injury and their relation to cell swelling.

Guest:

Punam Pokam, Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M School of Medicine

Host

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On April 3, 2025 we met with Lorena Saelices to talk about what we know about the structure of amyloids, how they form by misfolding and aggregation of proteins, and how they damage cells and tissues in a range of disorders (including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases).

Guest:

Lorena Saelices, Assistant Professor, Department of Biophysics and the Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases at the UT Southwestern Medical School.

Participating:

Chris Gamblin, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson , Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On March 27, 2025, we spoke with Nace Golding about the auditory pathways in the brainstem and midbrain. We focused on the inferior colliculus, and on identifying the key cell types that make up that essential but mysterious midbrain auditory nucleus.

Guest:

Nace Golding, Professor, Department of Neuroscience and the Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin.

Participating:

Marina Silveira, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On March 20, 2025 we spoke with the speakers at our annual UTSA Neuroscience Symposium for 2025, entitled "Prefrontal Cortical Functions Beyond Fear". The panel talked about the contribution of medial prefrontal cortex in fear, threat and safety learning, cognitive flexibility, psychiatric disorders, recent and remote memory, and some other things.

Guests

Anthony Burgos-Robles, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Laura Denardo, Department of Physiology, UCLA School of Medicine

Jason Keller, HHMI Janelia Research Campus

David Morilak, Department of Pharmacology, UT Health San Antonio

Host

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On February 27, 2025 we were joined by Xue Han about using genetically expressed fluorescent voltage sensors to measure transmembrane voltage simultaneously in multiple neurons in the brain of awake behaving animals over days or weeks. She explained how the genetic sequences for the voltage sensor molecules are found and perfected, how they are delivered to the neurons of interest, the challenges of measuring voltage by changes in fluorescence, and the kinds of questions whose solutions are waiting for this technology.

Guest:

Xue Han, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On February 13, 2025 we met with Yin Shen to discuss the contribution of cis-regulatory non-coding DNA sequences in controlling gene expression, and how variation of these regions in microglia may be risk factors in idiopathic brain diseases.

Guest:

Yin Shen, Professor in the Department of Neurology and the Institute for Human Genetics in the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine

Participating:

Melanie Carless, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On January 30, 2025 we spoke with Ekaterina (Katya) Likhtic about the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and the circuits responsible for fear conditioning and extinction. She informed us about the special contribution of the amygdala to emotion and emotional learning, and we discussed the special place of fear conditioning as a model for learning generally.

Guest:

Katya Likhtic, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Hunter City University of New York.

Participating:

Tony Burgos-Robles, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

Itamar Lerner, Department of Psychology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

On December 13, 2024 we spoke with the speakers at our annual UTSA Neuroscience Symposium, on the Basal Ganglia Circuitry. Topics of discussion included the heterogeneity of cells and connections, the usefulness of the idea of cell types (or lack thereof), and the relationship between neuromodulators and fast synaptic transmission.

Sorry about the sound quality on this one.

Guests:

Charles Gerfen, Senior Investigator, National Institute of Mental Health

Joshua Goldberg, Associate Professor, Department of Medical Neurobiology, The Hebrew University

Zayd Khaliq, Senior Investigator, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke

Tianyi Mao, Senior Scientist, Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University

Gilad Silberberg, Professor | Docent, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute

D. James Surmeier, Professor, Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On December 5, 2024 we spoke with Jason Chen about G-protein signaling in the mammalian photoreceptors, and the G-protein regulator proteins that govern the speed of transduction and the temporal resolution of vision.

Guest:

Jason Chen, Professor in the Departments of Molecular Medicine and Ophthalmology, and Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Chair in Retinal Signaling at UT Health San Antonio.

Participating:

Erika Tatiana Camacho, Departments of Mathematics and Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On November 21, 2024 we spoke with Jonathan Fadok on the brain circuits that choose whether an animal will freeze or try to escape in the presence of a dangerous stimulus.

Guest:

Jonathan Fadok, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Brain Institute at Tulane University.

Participating:

Tony Burgos-Robles, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Matt Wanat, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On November 14, 2024 we spoke with Claudio Punzo on the metabolic interdependence of the retinal pigment epithelium and the photoreceptors of the retina, and its implications for the degenerative process in macular degeneration

Guest:

Claudio Punzo, Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

Participating:

Erika Tatiana Camacho, Departments of Mathematics and Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On November 7, 2024 we spoke with Carlos Bassetto about the relationship between molecular structure and functional states of the ion channels that underlie all electrical signals in the nervous system.

Guest:

Carlos Bassetto, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, UTSA

Participating:

Fidel Santamaria, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

Neuroscientists Talk Shop: Raju Metherate on nicotine and auditory processing

On October 31, 2024 we spoke with Raju Metherate, on the sites of action of nicotine in the auditory pathway and the mechanism by which it enhances cortical responses to sound.

Guest:

Raju Metherate, Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine

Participating:

Alfonso Apicella, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On October 17, 2024 we talked with Eric Fortune about the electric field sensory system in weakly electric fish and its function in social communication, predation and spatial localization. Eric explained how his collaboration with engineers and application of control systems opened a window on the function of the animal's movement in this sensory system.

Guest:

Eric Fortune, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Participating:

Francesco Savelli, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Todd Troyer, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On October 10, 2024 we met with Ranmal Samarsinghe to talk about the use of cortical assembloids, three-dimensional cultures containing both excitatory and inhibitory neurons. to explore the development and function of the cerebral cortex.

Guest:

Ranmal Samarasinghe, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Participating:

Sara Mirsadegi, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On September 26, 2024 we spoke with Jones Parker about dopamine receptors, the changes in neuronal activity produced by various antipsychotic drugs, and their relationship to antipsychotic efficacy in humans.

Guest:

Jones Parker, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Participating:

Matt Wanat, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On September 23, 2024 we met with Andy Groves to discuss the inner ear and hearing loss, why we can't regenerate our auditory receptors, and how we might someday be able to rebuild our auditory epithelium using gene therapy.

Guest:

Andy Groves, Professor and Vivian L Smith Endowed Chair in Neuroscience, Departments of Neuroscience and Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine.

Participating:

Marina Silveira, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On September 12, 2024 we got to talk with Brian Lundstrom about the origin of epilepsy, the use of electrical recordings in its diagnosis, and brain stimulation as a treatment. Brian explained the difficulties of inferring cortical network function from EEG signals, and the problem of studying a disease whose symptoms manifest rarely and intermittently.

Guest:

Brian Lundstrom, Associate Professor in Neurology and Biophysics in the division of Epilepsy, Department of Neurology, in Mayo Clinic

Participating:

Fidel Santamaria, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On September 9, 2024 we got to talk to Marina Silveira about the inferior colliculus, its place in the auditory pathway, and the effort to understand its cellular makeup, internal structure, and auditory functions.

Guest:

Marina Silveira, Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On August 29, 2024 we spoke with Melanie Carless about cellular models of Alzheimer's disease generated using direct programming of brain cells from fibroblasts derived from patients, which can be used to find epigenetic signatures of the disease.

Guest:

Melanie Carless, Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Participating:

Uchit Bhaskar, Department of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

On May 2, 2024 we spoke with Skirmantas Janusonis on the peculiar morphology and spatial distribution of the serotonin innervation of the brain, and his idea that it can be described using the mathematics of fractional Brownian motion. We consider the kind of developmental mechanisms that could be responsible.

Guest:

Skirmantas Janusonis, Associate Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Participating:

Fidel Santamaria, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music

On April 25, 2024, we met with the 5 speakers for this year's Annual Neuroscience Symposium at UTSA to discuss epigenetics and nervous system development. We discussed the best known molecular mechanisms that control patterns of gene expression and current limitations faced in studies of those mechanisms. We also discussed the promise of epigenetics to explain the differentiation of nervous system cell types, mechanisms of developmental, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

Guests:

Melanie Carless, Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Christine Ladd-Acosta, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Paulino Ramirez, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health San Antonio

Alexey Soshnev, Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Hehuang "David" Xie, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Tech

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music