Guilherme Testa-Silva

This paper engineers human TRPV1 channels to detect near-infrared light by shifting their temperature sensitivity, enabling light-induced heat activation in retinal cells without immunogenicity issues.

The paper improves positively tuned voltage indicators by enhancing their kinetics and contrast for better spike detection.

The paper finds that human neurons have a higher synaptic threshold for NMDA spike generation compared to rodent neurons, primarily due to larger dendrite diameter.

The paper develops a novel genetically encoded voltage indicator, NovArch, enabling high-resolution voltage imaging in brain tissue with improved sensitivity, background rejection, and time resolution.

The paper presents detailed biophysical models of human cortical pyramidal neurons, revealing enhanced computational capabilities through large synaptic conductances and multi-site nonlinear signaling.