Neuroscientists Talk Shop

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 AntonioHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio Thanks to James Tepper for original music

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

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, UTSAAnnabelle Singer, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory UniversityAlbert Lee, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard UniversityJill Leutgeb, Professor, Department of Neurobiology, University of California San DiegoKamran Diba, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, University of MichiganHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSAThanks 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 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 AntonioParticipating:Jenny Hsieh, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSAHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

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, UTSAHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSAThanks 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 MedicineParticipating:George Perry, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San AntonioHyoung-gon Lee, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San AntonioHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San AntonioThanks 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 AntonioThanks to James Tepper for original music

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.GuestSarah 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 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 AntonioParticipating:Matt Wanat, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San AntonioHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San AntonioThanks to Jim 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, UTSAHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSAThanks 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, UTSAHost:Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSAThanks to James Tepper for original music