The 45th Annual Meeting of the JB. Johnston Club for Evolutionary Neuroscience will also be held in Washington, DC, USA on Friday the 13th November 2026.
Venue: Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library at Howard University (Address: 501 W St NW, Washington, DC 20059). There will be a welcoming desk at the entrance, and directions to the 4th Foor meeting rooms (either via the elevator or the stairs). Google Maps - link
2026 J.B. Johnston Club for Evolutionary Neuroscience Annual Meeting
November 13, 2026
Schedule of Talks:
7:30-8:30 Breakfast
8:30-8:45 Introduction/Welcome
Program Committee
8:45-9:00 Towards a theory of brain and behavior through the lens of evolution
Hans A. Hofmann
9:00-9:15 Through a glass, darkly: paedomorphic Danionella enhances the mystery of the ray-finned fish pallium
Jonathan T. Perelmuter & Andrew H. Bass
9:15-9:30 Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the hypothalamus reveals the molecular mechanisms of physiological and behavioral resilience in variable environments
D. A. Phofolos, P. A. Wong, S.L. Cornett, T. H. Bonner & H. A. Hofmann
9:30-9:45 Large intercalated neurons (L-ITCs) of the zebrafish amygdala are GABAergic and show characteristics conserved from fish to mammals
Thomas Mueller & Daniel Webster
9:45-10:00 Investigating the effects of lesion-induced damage on radial glial morphology and reactive gliosis in the cerebral cortex of turtle brains
Kyle Hastings, Elena Christou, Amalia Napoli, Alice Powers & Carmen Falcone
10:00-10:15 Coffee Break (15 min)
10:15-10:30 Amid the universal clatter: How the toadfish auditory efferent system adjusts to vessel noise in New York Harbor
Thomas D. Quigley, Kara Duclosel, Adrian Skeans & Paul Forlano
10:30-10:45 Comparative histology of the mammalian olivocochlear efferent system: Can we infer function from structure?
Grace Capshaw, Hakim Hiel, Jane Mondul, Cynthia F. Moss &Amanda M. Lauer
10:45-11:00 Endothermy was inevitable: A new narrative of how the brains of birds and mammals came to be
Suzana Herculano-Houzel
11:00-12:00 Karger Special Invited Guest: Genevieve Konopka
“Cell type-specific transcriptional networks in brain evolution, neuronal function, and disease”
12:00-2:00 Lunch (2 hours)
2:00-2:15 Evolution of neocortex produced a ‘small-world network’ permitting its radical expansion
John L. Kubie & Steven Fox
2:15-2:30 Sensory priorities and the timing of brain region maturation: a comparative embryonic study across precocial and altricial birds
Jeremy Corfield & Christine Köppl
2:30-2:45 Macroevolutionary variation in the pallial regions of the avian telencephalon
Emma Puetz, Jeremy Corfield & Amy Balanoff
2:45-3:00 Molecular insights into the evolutionary origins of the avian Wulst
Samuel Broadbent, Emma Puetz & Amy Balanoff
3:00-3:15 Tracking cortical shape across the lifespan: curvedness and thickness at the pial and white surfaces in infancy and neurodegeneration
Cameron Godin, Zhana Velkov, Caoimhe Molloy, Nagehan Demirci & Maria Holland
3:15-3:30 Coffee Break (15 min)
3:30-3:45 Primate cerebellar macro- and microevolution: using lobular traits as proxies for microstructural variation patterns
Leanne DeMay-Pouliot & Jeroen B. Smaers
3:45-4:00 Comparative vibrissal (whisker) morphology and the mechanics of sensory acquisition
Mitra J. Hartmann
4:00-4:15 Respiratory and olfactory turbinate sizes vary independently across amphibious and terrestrial rodents
Lila G. Youngdahl, Elijah M. Hansen & Kurt R. Illig
4:15-4:30 From the swamp to the neocortex—The neuroecology of the star-nosed mole
Kenneth C. Catania
4:30-4:45 Implementing comparative neurobiology approaches in the classroom
Katie L. Willis & Daniel Hoops
4:45-5:45 Business meeting
5:45-8:00 Reception
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Presentations for the annual meeting will be selected by the program committee from submitted abstracts. The abstract and datablitz submission form is available here and should be mailed to Grace Capshaw ([email protected]) by the 15th July 2027. JBJC presentations are short talks (~ 20 minutes) meant to present a comparative viewpoint not available in other venues. We give preference to synthetic talks or those with a relevant theoretical overview. We also invite speculative or divergent viewpoints and encourage talks that will provoke discussion. Note that you must be a member to submit an abstract. If you need to join or renew your membership, you may do so on our website: https://www.jbjclub.org/join-today.html. Please feel free to share this with colleagues and students that might not normally present at or attend our meetings but should!
We look forward to a wonderful Karger workshop and accompanying set of talks for the Annual meeting. Please feel free to reach out should you have any questions.
We look forward to seeing you all Washington, DC!
Photos from prior Meetings
Kindly click the following link and Check out our Flickr Account to view select photos from previous meetings:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/196942875@N02/shares/0J3E1wtKGL