Jade Zee
Degrees/Education
Ph.D. University of Oregon
B.S., University of California, San Diego
Area(s) of Expertise
Behavioral Neurobiology, Neuroendocrinology
Research Interests
The goal of Prof. Zee’s research is to understand the mechanisms and functional consequences of steroid hormones in the nervous system, especially as it relates to behavior. Hormones have pervasive influences on behavior both in vertebrates and invertebrates and at the level of individual neurons and neural circuits. During the summer, Prof. Zee conduct research at the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, MA investigating neural mechanisms underlying seasonal and sex-specific acoustic communication in teleost fishes. The teleost hindbrain vocal pattern generator exhibits both slow (genomic) and rapid (non-genomic) effects of steroids that alter their cellular and firing properties. Previously, she studied steroid-mediated programmed cell death of a neuromuscular system during metamorphosis in moths- insect metamorphosis being one of the most elaborate examples of post-embryonic neural and behavioral plasticity.
Location
134 Mugar Life Sciences Building