简介

Research in our laboratory focuses on two projects concerning the central and peripheral nervous systems of sound-producing/ "vocalizing" teleost fishes: (1) Characterization, and hormonal influences on, sex differences in the morphology of single, physiologically-identified neurons. (2) Temporal and spectral encoding of acoustic communication signals. These projects revolve around studies of alternative mating tactics in species wth two male morphs that differ in a large suite of behavioral, neurobiological and neuroendocrine characters including divergent acoustic courtship behaviors and vocal control pathways. We answer questions regarding the existence of behaviors and their underlying mechanisms using a multidisciplinary, neuroethological approach that combines field studies of vocal communication with laboratory studies of the nervous system that utilize one or more of the following approaches: neurophysiology combined with anatomical tract tracing, neuroendocrinology, electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, and in situ hybridization