Research Renaissance: Exploring the Future of Brain Science
Sep 30, 2026 · 50 min · 11 segments
In this episode of Research Renaissance, host Deborah Westphall sits down with Dr. Wolfgang Stein, a professor at Illinois State University School of Biological Sciences. Dr. Stein shares his…
Wolfgang SteinGuestDeborah WestphalHost
A lot of my own emphasis is on neurophysiology, so looking at the physiology of neurons, meaning how do they function in terms of communicating with other neurons, You know, how are these processes working? What is an action potential? How does this help to communicate to another neuron? How do neurons come together to create a behavior, for example? So that's how I would define neurobiology.
There are some small differences between neuroscience and neurophysiology and neurobiology.
And to me, how does a neuron function? How does its physiology support its function?
What are kind of those major differences or those slight differences that you talked about? I mean, how would you describe those for the layperson like me?
Yeah, so I would say neuroscience is more an overarching word that describes all of us.
And then there are the neurophysiologists that are looking more at the membrane potentials and how things actually happen.
While there are neurobiologists who will look a little bit more at the molecular and cellular functions.
And so depending on where you look, people make slight differences with the definitions of what they are.
Separation doesn't make a lot of sense because all of this together comes to support the function of the neuron.
So you put a probe in a neuron in a leech, and that was kind of the moment there.
If you could go back to that time, what... you know what was your perspective as to what you would be studying or the questions that you'd be answering and you know how did this yeah is there a moment there that you had to rethink like what am i doing and what is the purpose
A lot of my own emphasis is on neurophysiology, so looking at the physiology of neurons, meaning how do they function in terms of communicating with other neurons, You know, how are these processes working? What is an action potential? How does this help to communicate to another neuron? How do neurons come together to create a behavior, for example? So that's how I would define neurobiology.
There are some small differences between neuroscience and neurophysiology and neurobiology.
And to me, how does a neuron function? How does its physiology support its function?
What are kind of those major differences or those slight differences that you talked about? I mean, how would you describe those for the layperson like me?
Yeah, so I would say neuroscience is more an overarching word that describes all of us.
And then there are the neurophysiologists that are looking more at the membrane potentials and how things actually happen.
While there are neurobiologists who will look a little bit more at the molecular and cellular functions.
And so depending on where you look, people make slight differences with the definitions of what they are.
Separation doesn't make a lot of sense because all of this together comes to support the function of the neuron.
So you put a probe in a neuron in a leech, and that was kind of the moment there.
If you could go back to that time, what... you know what was your perspective as to what you would be studying or the questions that you'd be answering and you know how did this yeah is there a moment there that you had to rethink like what am i doing and what is the purpose
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