Research Areas
- Social Behavioral Adaptation
- Compensatory mechanisms between sensory systems
- Natural phenotypic variation
Scientific Achievements
- Found that sensory and behavioral changes in cavefish can help us understand the genetics of sleep, aggression, and social behavior related to neurological health.
- Showed that cannabinoid receptor 2 (Cnr2) is crucial for synapse development in sensory cells, suggesting new therapeutic avenues for sensory disorders.
- Clarified the dynamic regulation of atf5 family genes during neural development, providing insights into neuronal resilience.
- Highlighted the effects of losing cannabinoid receptor 2 in early development, demonstrating its role in neurobehavioral maturation through endocannabinoid signaling.
Funding
RCMI Funding:
- NIH/NIMHD U54MD007600
Other funding obtained with RCMI support:R16 SuRE-First (NIH): 5R16EY037336-02: “Natural variation in synaptic neurotransmission in the lateral line of the blind Mexican cavefish” 1P20GM156713-01: COBRE-Puerto Rico Center for Microbiome Sciences, Research Project: “The contribution of the gut microbiome to adaptation of sleep and aggression in the blind Mexican cavefish”
Scientific Advance
Sensing in the dark: Constructive evolution of the lateral line system in blind populations of Astyanax mexicanus.
Published in Ecology and Evolution, Volume 4, 2024, PMCID: PMC11036076.
Published in Ecology and Evolution, Volume 4, 2024, PMCID: PMC11036076.
This review explores how blind cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus) adapt to living in dark subterranean environments by evolving their lateral line system—an array of sensory organs that detect water movement. Because these fish have lost vision in dark caves, the study discusses how the lateral line becomes more sensitive, expands in structure, and changes behaviorally to compensate. It summarizes what is known about how the lateral line develops, how its synapses adjust, and how behavioral changes contribute, and it highlights many unanswered questions for future work in evolutionary biology and medicine.
U54-MD007600 / NIMHD NIH HHS
