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