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ProfessorW239 Seeley G. Mudd Hall |
Research Interests
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. Link to Lab Page.
Some Recent Bass Lab Publications
Bass, A. H. and M. S. Grober (in press) Reproductive Plasticity in Fish: Evolutionary Lability in the Patterning of Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Traits Underlying Divergent Sexual Phenotypes In: Hormones, Brain, and Behavior (D. Pfaff, A. Arnold, A. Etgen, S. Fahrbach, R. Moss, R. Rubin, Eds.) Academic Press.
Bass, A. H., E. Gilland and R. Baker (2008) Evolutionary origins for social vocalization in a vertebrate hindbrain-spinal compartment. Science 321: 417-421 (also Perspective by D. Margoliash and M. E. Hale, pp. 347-348).
Bass, A. H. and L. H. Remage-Healey (2008) Central pattern generators for social vocalization: androgen-dependent neurophysiological mechanisms. Hormones and Behavior 53: 659-672.
Bass, A. H. (2008) Steroid-dependent plasticity of vocal motor systems: novel insights from teleost fish. Brain Research Reviews 57: 299-308.
Bass, A. H. and P. M. Forlano (2008) Neuroendocrine mechanisms of alternative reproductive tactics: The chemical language of social plasticity. In: Alternative Reproductive Tactics Ð an Integrative Approach (R. F. Oliveira, M. Taborsky, J. Brockmann, eds) Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 109-131.
Bass, A. H. and F. Ladich (2008) Vocal-acoustic communication: from behavior to neurons. In: Fish Bioacoustics - Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, (A. Popper, R. Fay, J. Webb; eds.), Springer, pp. 253-278.
Forlano, P. M., J. A. Sisneros, L. H. Remage-Healey and A. H. Bass (2007) Steroid-induced plasticity in the auditory and vocal motor system: recent studies in a teleost fish. In: Canonaco, M., Facciolo, R.M. (Eds), Evolutionary Molecular Strategies and Plasticity, Research Signpost, 37/661 (2), Fort P.O., Trivandrum-695 023, Kerala, India, pp. 25-50.
Sisneros, J. A. (2007) Saccular potentials of the vocal plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus. Journal of Comparative Physiology 193 (4): 413-424 (from the laboratory of Andrew Bass).
Bass, A.H. and Z. Lu (2007) Neural and behavioral mechanisms of audition. In: Hara, T., Zielinski, B. (Eds.) Vol. 25, Fish Physiology, Sensory Systems Neuroscience, Elsevier, New York. Pp. 377-410.
Remage-Healey, L. H. and A. H. Bass (2007) Plasticity in brain sexuality is revealed by the rapid actions of steroid hormones. The Journal of Neuroscience 27 (4): 1114-1122.
Santangelo, N. and A. H. Bass (2006) New insights into neuropeptide modulation of aggression: Field studies in a territorial tropical damselfish. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B (London). 273(1605): 3085-3092.
Remage-Healey, L. H. and A. H. Bass (2006) From social behaviour to neurons: Rapid modulation of advertisement calling and vocal pattern generators by steroid hormones. Hormones and Behavior 50: 432-441.
Kittelberger, J. M., B. R. Land and A. H. Bass (2006) The midbrain periaqueductal gray and vocal patterning in a teleost fish. Journal of Neurophysiology 96:71-85.
Lee, J. S. F. and A. H. Bass (2006) Dimorphic male midshipman fish: Reduced sexual selection or sexual selection for reduced characters? Behavioral Ecology 17:670-675.
Forlano, P. M. and A. H. Bass (2005) Seasonal plasticity of brain aromatase mRNA expression in glia: divergence across reproductive and vocal phenotypes. Journal of Neurobiology 65, 37-49.
Forlano, P. M., D. L. Deitcher, and A. H. Bass (2005) Distribution of estrogen receptor alpha mRNA in the brain and inner ear of a vocal fish with comparisons to sites of aromatase expression. Journal of Comparative Neurology 483, 91-113.
Weeg, M. S., B. R. Land and A. H. Bass (2005) Temporal modulation of efferents to the inner ear and lateral line by central vocal pathways. The Journal of Neuroscience 25, 5967-5974.
Remage-Healey, L. and Bass, A. H. (2004) Rapid, hierarchical modulation of vocal patterning by steroid hormones. The Journal of Neuroscience 24:5892-5900.
Sisneros, J., P. Forlano, D. Deitcher and A. H. Bass (2004) Steroid-dependent auditory plasticity leads to adaptive coupling of sender and receiver. Science 305: 404-407.
Bass, A. H. and J. R. McKibben (2003) Neural mechanisms and behaviors for acoustic communication in teleost fish. Progress in Neurobiology 69: 1-26.
Sisneros, J. and A. H. Bass (2003) Seasonal plasticity of peripheral auditory tuning. The Journal of Neuroscience 23:1049-1058.
Goodson, J. L. and A. H. Bass (2002) Forebrain and midbrain voocal-acoustic complexes: Intraconectivity and descending vocal motor pathways. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 448:298-321.
McKibben JR and A. H. Bass (2001) Effects of temporal envelope modulation on acoustic signal recognition in a vocal fish. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 109: 2934-2943.
Bass, A. H., D. A. Bodnar and M.A. Marchaterre (2000) Midbrain acoustic circuitry in a vocalizing fish. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 419: 505-531.
Goodson, J. L. and A. H. Bass (2000) Forebrain peptide modulation of sexually polymorphic vocal motor circuitry. Nature 403: 769-772.
Courses Taught
Introduction to Neurobiology; Brain Evolution and Behavior