James Liao
University of Florida, FL·Neuroscience
How do nervous systems evolve? The blind Mexican cavefish offers a rare natural experiment.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Ecology & Evolution
Genetics
- Topics
Mexican cavefish
Astyanax mexicanus
lateral line
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Compare lateral line sensitivity between surface fish and blind cavefish across larval development, using in vivo patch clamp recordings from neurons connected to flow-sensing hair cells.
- Test whether evolved changes in lateral line physiology, including efferent feedback that tunes flow signals during swimming, have enhanced the sensory abilities of cavefish.
- Identify genomic regions linked to lateral line function and prey capture by breeding F2 surface-cave hybrid fish and applying genotyping-by-sequencing and high-resolution QTL mapping.
- Relate lateral line genetics to biomechanical differences in prey capture behavior among hybrid fish.
More about the research
The same species includes eyed surface populations and blind cave populations, so scientists can compare how sensory systems changed as fish adapted to darkness. This project links genetics and neuroscience to study the lateral line, a sensory system that lets fish feel water flow, and how it evolved to help cavefish catch prey.
Why it matters
Understanding how hair cells in the lateral line process information could give insight into the human hearing and balance (vestibular) systems, which also rely on hair cells. The findings could also inspire engineers designing efficient, low-cost flow sensors for autonomous vehicles, and add new techniques for studying how genetic variation shapes neural processing in natural populations.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Radha Kalluri
University of Southern California, CA·Neuroscience
Test whether the mix of ion channels in vestibular ganglion neurons explains their regular versus irregular firing, using patch-clamp recordings combined with single-cell labeling of dendrite shape in semi-intact inner-ear tissue.
Johann Hofmann
University of Texas at Austin, TX·Ecology & Evolution
Estimate how many genetic loci control aggression bias and male body coloration, and how tightly they are linked, using quantitative genetics and QTL mapping in red Pundamilia nyererei and blue P. pundamilia cichlids.
Ryan Wong
University of Nebraska at Omaha, NE·Neuroscience·Early-career
Estimate how many genetic loci control aggression bias and male body color in red Pundamilia nyererei and blue P. pundamilia cichlids, and whether they are linked, using quantitative genetics and QTL mapping.
The school
University of Florida: 65 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 795 research doctorates a year.
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