Center Investigator
Department of Biology
University of Miami
1301 Memorial Drive, Room 4
Coral Gables, FL 33146
Phone: 305-284-6813
Fax: 305-284-3039
Lab web site: http://www.bio.miami.edu/zlu
Email: zlu@miami.edu
Biography
Education
| B.S. | (1985) | Biology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, PRC |
| M.S. | (1988) | Neurophysiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, PRC |
| M.A. | (1993) | Psychology, Loyola University of Chicago, IL |
| Ph. D. | (1995) | Psychology, Loyola University of Chicago, IL |
| Postdoc | (1995-1999) | Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD |
Research Interests
My lab is investigating how fish hear and how natural toxins affect fish hearing. Our current research has two directions:1) Neural mechanisms of directional hearing,
2) Red-tide toxin induced hearing loss.
We use two teleost fishes, the sleeper goby (Dormitator latifrons) and the goldfish (Carassius auratus) as model systems. In the first project, we study how directional information is encoded by primary auditory afferents innervating otolithic organs and how peripheral coding of directional information is processed in the brain using neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and behavioral approaches. In the second project, we examine effects of a natural toxin, brevetoxin-3, purified from Florida red tides, on hearing sensitivity.
Recent Publication
Lu, Z. (2003) Neural mechanisms of hearing in fishes. In: von der Emde, G., Mogdans, J., Kapoor, B.G. (eds) The Senses of Fishes: Adaptations for the Reception of Natural Stimuli. Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, India, pp 147-172.
Lu, Z. and Tomchik, S. M. (2002) Effects of a red-tide toxin on fish
hearing. J. Comp. Physiol. A 188: 808-817.