Top Researchers
Top Neuroscience Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin for 2026
Research in neuroscience at The University of Texas at Austin spans the study of perception, memory, brain networks, and clinical applications, with recent work connecting basic mechanisms to tools and interventions that may matter in practice. The selections below highlight researchers whose recent publications show how broad the field can be within one institution.
Across this group, you’ll see an emphasis on cognitive and behavioral questions, alongside work in sensory systems, speech and hearing, imaging, and cellular mechanisms. Taken together, these studies offer a snapshot of how UT Austin researchers are approaching neuroscience from multiple angles.
Featured Researchers
Sajana Aryal
Sajana Aryal’s recent work at The University of Texas at Austin centers on cognitive neuroscience, sensory systems, and speech and hearing, including studies of noise exposure, auditory filter sharpness, and misophonia.
Activity over the last year: 10 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Is Noise Exposure Associated With Impaired Extended High Frequency Hearing Despite a Normal Audiogram? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (May 2025)
- On the Sharpness of Auditory Filters: Considering Subclinical Deficits Reveals Sharper Otoacoustic Emission Estimates of Frequency Selectivity in Humans (Nov 2025)
- Exploring the Impact of Misophonia Through the Lens of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Framework (Jul 2025)
Srikanta K. Mishra
Srikanta K. Mishra focuses on cognitive neuroscience, sensory systems, and speech and hearing, with recent publications on extended high-frequency hearing, auditory brainstem synchrony, and machine learning for cochlear implant outcomes.
Activity over the last year: 8 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Is Noise Exposure Associated With Impaired Extended High Frequency Hearing Despite a Normal Audiogram? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (May 2025)
- Extended high-frequency hearing and suprathreshold neural synchrony in the auditory brainstem (Mar 2025)
- A systematic review of machine learning approaches in cochlear implant outcomes (Jul 2025)
Joseph E. Dunsmoor
Joseph E. Dunsmoor’s recent publications span cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, with work on fear conditioning, contextual threat inferences, and the behavioral tagging of episodic memory.
Activity over the last year: 8 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Neural correlates of human fear conditioning and sources of variability in 2199 individuals (Aug 2025)
- Episodic memories bias contextual threat inferences after aerobic and mind-body exercise (Aug 2025)
- How the nature of weak learning and retention interval affects behavioral tagging of episodic memory. (Jul 2025)
Charles B. Nemeroff
Charles B. Nemeroff’s recent work brings together behavioral neuroscience, pharmacology, and biological psychiatry through studies of early life adversity, focused ultrasound neuromodulation, and psilocybin.
Activity over the last year: 10 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Sex Differences in the Associations Among Early Life Adversity, Inflammation, and Cognition (Jan 2025)
- Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound amygdala neuromodulation: a double-blind sham-controlled target engagement study and unblinded single-arm clinical trial (Apr 2025)
- Psilocybin: From Psychiatric Pariah to Perceived Panacea (Jan 2025)
José del R. Millán
José del R. Millán’s research combines cognitive neuroscience and engineering, with recent publications on personalized EEG e-tattoos, spinal cord stimulation, and transcranial alternating current stimulation for brain–computer interface control.
Activity over the last year: 7 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- On-scalp printing of personalized electroencephalography e-tattoos (Jan 2025)
- Electrical spinal cord stimulation promotes focal sensorimotor activation that accelerates brain–computer interface skill learning (Jun 2025)
- Personalized µ-transcranial alternating current stimulation improves online brain–computer interface control (Jan 2025)
Gregory A. Fonzo
Gregory A. Fonzo works across cognitive neuroscience, experimental and cognitive psychology, and clinical psychology, including studies of treatment-predictive brain signatures in major depression and focused ultrasound amygdala neuromodulation.
Activity over the last year: 7 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Deep graph learning of multimodal brain networks defines treatment-predictive signatures in major depression (Mar 2025)
- Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound amygdala neuromodulation: a double-blind sham-controlled target engagement study and unblinded single-arm clinical trial (Apr 2025)
- Psilocybin: From Psychiatric Pariah to Perceived Panacea (Jan 2025)
Laura K. Fonken
Laura K. Fonken’s recent work links behavioral neuroscience with endocrine and autonomic systems, highlighting neuroimmune responses, microglia across the lifespan, and sex-dependent effects of time-restricted feeding.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Neuroimmune and behavioral changes elicited by maternal immune activation in mice are ameliorated by early postnatal immune stimulation (Mar 2025)
- Sex differences in microglia morphology and function across the lifespan are mediated by the early hormone environment (Nov 2025)
- Time-restricted feeding in adult mice improves mood-related behaviors in a sex-dependent manner (Oct 2025)
Franco Pestilli
Franco Pestilli’s recent publications connect cognitive neuroscience with imaging, including work on consciousness, a labeled Clinical-MRI dataset of Nigerian brains, and category-selective neural responses to naturalistic stimulation.
Activity over the last year: 7 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
What The University of Texas at Austin's Neuroscience Community Is Working On
The most common themes across this neuroscience group are cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, sensory systems, speech and hearing, and cellular and molecular neuroscience. That mix suggests an active community working across perception, learning, memory, and brain-behavior relationships, while also pushing into auditory function, neural signaling, and translational questions. The result is a balanced research profile: some studies probe fundamental mechanisms, while others build methods and interventions that may support clinical neuroscience and brain-based technologies.- Cognitive Neuroscience - seen across 6 of the featured researchers
- Behavioral Neuroscience - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- Sensory Systems - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Speech and Hearing - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
These recent publications show a lively neuroscience community at The University of Texas at Austin, with work ranging from auditory function and learning to brain networks, neuroimmune processes, and neuromodulation. If you’re exploring more papers like these, Resub can help simplify citation discovery, manuscript formatting, and submission preparation for your own research workflow.
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