Raquel Vasconcelos

Personal Profile

My major research interests are animal behaviour and neurophysiology, namely understanding the social role of vocal communication signals and how sounds are produced and detected by the vertebrate nervous system. I am interested in the physiological mechanisms underlying auditory sensitivity and how changes in the environment (eg. increasing noise pollution) can impact hearing, behavior and possible physiological adaptations.
Presently, my research lines focus on social behavior, vocal communication and auditory sensitivity in fish. I have been using the highly vocal Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus, Batrachoididae) and, more recently, the zebrafish Danio rerio, as my major study organisms.
Ongoing research projects cover the following topics: (1) ontogenetic development of multimodal communication; (2) developmental of auditory-vocal systems; (3) hormonal control of auditory sensitivity; and (4) effects of noise on early development and noise pollution.

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2021 | 2024 – SenSing – Acoustic communication in changing sensory environments: testing adaptive responses with the vocal fish model Danionella translucida. 在不斷變化的感官環境中的聲音交流：使用發聲魚 Danionella translucida 測試適應性反應. FDCT 068/2020/A2. Research Team: Raquel O. Vasconcelos (PI), Paulo J. Fonseca (University of Lisbon), David Goncalves (USJ, Macau), Celia Shunter (The University of Hong Kong).
2016 | 2019 – ZEBRASONIC- Listening to the Environment: Importance of Early Acoustic Experience on Development and Hearing in Zebrafish/ 聆听环境：斑马鱼早期听力及发育的声学体验重要性. FDCT 036/2015/A1. Research Team: Raquel O. Vasconcelos (PI), Andrew H. Bass (team member).
2014 | 2015 – Hormonal control of auditory sensitivity in the zebrafish Danio rerio. Postdoc Associate Fellowship, Cornell University, NY, USA. (Raquel O. Vasconcelos; Andrew H. Bass lab)
2012 | 2016 – The vocal brain of fish: development of auditory processing and vocal motor control. FDCT 019/2012/A1. Research Team: Raquel O. Vasconcelos (PI), Paulo J. Fonseca (team member), Joseph Sisneros (team member).
2011 – Differential roles of saccule and utricle for directional hearing and vestibular sense in a vocal benthic fish, Halobatrachus didactylus. Research Fellowship from the Grass Foundation, Marine Biological Laboratory, MA, USA. (RO Vasconcelos.

SELECTED RESEARCH PROJECTS

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Vasconcelos, R. O., Bolgan, M., Matos, A., Van-Dunem, S., Penim, J., Amorim, M. C. P. (2024) Characterization of the vocal behavior of the miniature and transparent Danionella cerebrum (Cyprinidae). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 155. doi: 10.1063/5.0045281.
Vasconcelos, R. O., Gordillo-Martinez F., Ramos A., Lau I. H. Effects of Noise Exposure and Ageing on Anxiety and Social Behaviour in Zebrafish. (2023) Biology 12, 1165. doi: 10.3390/biology12091165.
Vasconcelos, R. O. (2023) Zebrafish as a model in Bioacoustics: investigating sensory responses to noisy environments. In: Popper, A.N., Sisneros, J., Hawkins, A.D., Thomsen, F. (eds) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10417-6_179-1.
Wang, W., Turco, T., Fonseca, P. J., Vasconcelos, R. O., Coureaud, G., Amorim, M. C. P., Beauchaud, M. (2023) Chronic Boat Noise Impacts on the Early Life Stages of Cichlids (Maylandia zebra): Preliminary Findings. In: Popper, A.N., Sisneros, J., Hawkins, A.D., Thomsen, F. (eds) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10417-6_179-1.
Lau, I. H., Vasconcelos, R. O. (2023) Noise-induced damage in the zebrafish inner ear endorgans: evidence for higher acoustic sensitivity of saccular and lagenar hair cells. Journal of Experimental Biology 226 (22): jeb245992. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.245992.
Wong, M. I., Lau, I. H., Gordillo-Martinez, F., Vasconcelos, R. O. (2022) Impact of temporal variation in noise exposure on the auditory system and behavioural stress in the zebrafish. Scientific Reports 12, 15353. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19573-y.
Lara, R., Breitzler, L., Lau, I. H., Gordillo-Martinez, F., Chen, F., Fonseca, P. J., Bass, A. H., Vasconcelos, R. O. (2022) Noise-induced hearing loss correlates with inner ear hair cell decrease in larval zebrafish. Journal of Experimental Biology 225. doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243743.
Lara, R., Vasconcelos, R. O. (2021) Impact of noise amplitude and temporal patterns on development, physiological stress and behavioural patterns in larval zebrafish. Scientific Reports 11, 6615. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85296-1.
Breitzler, L., Lau, I. H., Fonseca, P. J., Vasconcelos, R. O. (2020) Noise-induced hearing loss in zebrafish: functional and structural inner ear damage and recovery. Hearing Research 391, 107952. doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2020.107952
Lara, R. A., Vasconcelos, R. O. (2019) Characterization of the natural soundscape of zebrafish and comparison with the captive noise conditions. Zebrafish, 16, 152-164. COVER ARTICLE