Neuroscientists Talk Shop

On November 5, 2026 we spoke with Dr. Sara Aton on ideas about how sleep might aid in memory consolidation in humans and mice.

Guest: Dr. Sara Aton, Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan.

Participating:

Aayushma Kunwar, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Itamar Lerner, Department of Psychology, UT San Antonio

Tony Burgos-Robles, 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 29, 2026 we spoke with Dr. Tiffany Schmidt about the unique set of retinal neurons whose activity is not exclusively dependent on the photoreceptors, but which contain melanopsin, a photosensitive pigment that gives them an intrinsic response to light. She explained how these neurons subserve behavioral light responses but are not a part of our conscious visual perception, including light-entrainment of the circadian pacemaker, the pupillary response, and a fascinating contribution to mood.

Guest:

Tiffany Schmidt, Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology, Northwestern University

Participating:

Addison Kanke, 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 15, 2026 we spoke with Dr. Edward Bartlett about how the auditory system detects and encodes rapid changes in sound amplitude essential for the detection of speech sounds. He explained the temporal sensitivity of single neurons in the upper brainstem auditory structures, the inferior colliculus and thalamus, which are essential for this process.

Guest:

Edward Bartlett, Professor of Professor of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University

Participating:

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

Rosy Carrasco, 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 8, 2026 we met with Dr. Camillo Padoa-Schioppa to learn how subjective value is represented in the brain and directs how animals and humans choose among goal options.

Guest:

Camillo Padoa-Schioppa, Professor of Neuroscience at Washington University in Saint Louis

Participating:

Alice Bertero, 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 17, 2026 we spoke with Dr. Michele Guigliano about the differences between neurons in the human cerebral cortex and those of rodents. We discussed the possibility that those differences may contribute to the unique intellectual capacity of humans.

Guest:

Michele Guigliano, PhD, Associate Professor Department of Biomedical, Metabolic & Neural Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia and Associate Professor of Physiology SISSA in Trieste

Participating:

Fidel Santamaria, 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 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