Yunlu Zhu, PhD

The brain senses gravity and transforms vestibular signals into precisely coordinated movements to maintain balance. The vestibular system is one of the oldest sensory systems in vertebrates, arising more than 500 million years ago. Long before trees appeared on land, fish were already swimming through their environment and using their inner ears to detect gravity and motion.

Despite its ancient origins and fundamental importance, many questions remain about how balance develops, how it becomes impaired, and how it can be restored. We seek to understand how neurons and glia shape balance function and how disruptions in these circuits lead to balance deficits. Using larval zebrafish as a tractable and quantitative model, we combine genetics, functional imaging, behavioral analysis, and computational modeling to uncover how conserved vestibular circuits transform sensory input into motor output.

Our research program aims to define:

- how neurons and glia assemble into functional vestibular circuits that sense gravity;
- how vestibular signals initiate movement to stabilize posture;
- how vestibular information is interpreted and integrated with other sensory modalities, such as vision, and with brain state;
- how altered gravity impairs the development and function of vestibular circuits;
- the cellular and network mechanisms underlying balance deficits.

Our long-term goal is to understand why balance fails in disease and injury, and how it can be restored.