Neuroscientists Talk Shop

On September 14 we spoke with Carrie Cuttler on experimental studies of the cognitive effects of chronic cannabis use and acute cannabis intoxication. She explained some of the obstacles that exist in the study of the effects of cannabis on the nervous system and on behavior, and on the current status of our knowledge in this area.

Guest:

Carrie Cuttler, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Washington State University.

Participating:

Tony Allevato, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Morgan Johnston, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

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

thanks to JM Tepper for original music

On August 31, 2023 we got a chance to talk to Lindsey Macpherson on the functional organization of the taste buds, taste cells, and the primary afferent neurons of taste in the geniculate and petrosal ganglia. Lindsey has joined our discussion several times in the past, but this time we discuss her own experimental work on the taste system.

Guest:

Lindsey Macpherson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Participating:

Bryan Fowler, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

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

acknowledgement: JM Tepper for original music

On August 24, we met with Mike Mauk to talk about the importance of timing in learned movements, and the granularity of the representation of time in the cerebellar cortex. This was Mike's second time on the podcast. We talked to him previously in September, 2008. To listen to that podcast, go to episode 16 of the audio-only podcasts, on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/neuroscientists-talk-shop/id279181187), or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/0Aq8iLa3MWb1utTzcdI5vp).

Guest:

Michael Mauk, Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin.

Participating:

Joshua Goldberg, Department of Neuroscience, Hebrew University, Israel

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

Host:

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

On February 5, 2009, we were joined by Allison Doupe, who was Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Physiology at the University of California San Francisco. Allison talked with us about the value of learned birdsong as a model for sensory and motor learning, the brain circuitry responsible for learning, remembering and controlling the song, and the importance of variability in adapting the song to changes in animal state or the environment.

Somehow, that conversation was never posted. I encountered it while searching through old files looking for something else, and just recently heard it for the first time. It is a wonderful conversation with a creative and insightful neuroscientist, and the information is still current, so I am posting it now.

Stay on after the podcast to listen to an outtake containing a conversation between Allison and Michael Farries on the pallium, the functional equivalent of the cerebral cortex birds, and whether birds do or do not have a cerebral cortex.

Guest: Allison Doupe, University of California San Francisco

Participating:

Michael Farries Department of Biology, UTSA

Kelly Suter Department of Biology, UTSA

Nicole Wicha Department of Biology, UTSA

Carlos Paladini Department of Biology, UTSA

Rama Ratnam Department of Biology, UTSA

Todd Troyer Department of Biology, UTSA

Host:

Salma Quraishi, Department of Biology, UTSA

acknowledgement: JM Tepper for original music

On April 27, we met with Kara Federmeier to talk about brain mechanisms of human semantic processing. We discussed the role of meaning in human language comprehension and production, in comparison to that of large language models like ChatGPT, which presumably do not know what they are saying.

Guest:

Kara Federmeier, Professor, Department of Psychology, Program in Neuroscience and The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois.

Participating:

Nicole Wicha, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Antonio Allevato, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

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

On April 13, 2023 we met with Steve Chang to learn about brain mechanisms for social decision making - deciding to share or not to share, acting on another's behalf, and learning by watching what others do.

Guest: Steve Chang, Associate Professor of the Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience at Yale University.

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

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

On March 29, 2023 we spoke with Jayeeta Basu about the level of autonomy exercised by neuronal dendrites in synaptic integration, the factors that control coupling between dendrites and the soma, and the possible role of dendritic processing in generating the responses of neurons.

Guest: Jayeeta Basu, Assistant Professor, Neuroscience Institute, the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, and the Department of Psychiatry at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

Participating: Francesco Savelli, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA.

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

Paper mentioned during the discussion: Bilash OM, Chavlis S, Johnson CD, Poirazi P, Basu J. Lateral entorhinal cortex inputs modulate hippocampal dendritic excitability by recruiting a local disinhibitory microcircuit. Cell Rep. 2023 Jan 31;42(1):111962.

On March 9, 2023 we spoke with Lauren Dobbs about the relationship between dopamine receptors and opiate peptide co-transmitters in the striatum, and implications for the mechanisms of action of cocaine and opiate drugs.

Guest: Lauren Dobbs, Assistant Professor, Departments of Neuroscience and Neurology, University of Texas at Austin.

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

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

On March 2nd, 2023 we got a chance to talk to Carmen Canavier, from LSU Health in New Orleans. This is Carmen's second time on the podcast.  Her previous visit was in 2015 (Episode 127), and she talked to us about the dynamics of dopamine neurons.  This time she shared her insights on theta and gamma oscillations and spike timing in the entorhinal cortex. 

Guest:

Carmen Canavier, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine.

Participating:

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

Host:

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

On February 23, 2023 we spoke with Zoé McElligott about alcohol, the difficulties encountered trying to understand its effects on the brain and the origins of alcohol use disorder.

Guest:

Zoé McElligott, Bowles Center of Alcohol Studies Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, UNC Chapel Hill

Participating:

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

Host:

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