Neuroscientists Talk Shop

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 c…

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 t…

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 re…

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 in…

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…

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…

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 media…

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 …

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…

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…

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, th…

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 res…

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, Ass…

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 pro…

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 syst…

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 mec…

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 expl…

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 developm…

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 i…

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 epith…