I am investigating the neural processing of bioluminescent optical signals among North American fireflies and Brazilian click-beetles and railroad worms. I am also studying the physiologic basis of visual defects in the vertebrate retina. In mutant zebrafishs with specific deficit in visual orientation, the characteristics of the electrical responses elicited from the eyes are being correlated with the cellular structure of the retina.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Lall, A. B., S. E.Brockerhoff and J. E. Dowling. Electroretinographic characteristics of nrc mutant larvae of zebrafish. ARVO Abstract (1997). Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.40: 206.

Lall, A. B. (1994) Spectral cues for the regulation of bioluminescent flashing in males of twilight-active firefly Photinus scintillans (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). J. Insect Physiol. 40:359-363.

Lall, A. B., G. K. Strother, T. W. Cronin and H. H. Seliger (1988) Modification of spectral sensitivities by the screening pigments in the compound eyes of twilight-active fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). J. Comp. Physiol. A 162:23-33.

Lall, A. B. (1993) Nightly increase in visual sensitivity correlated with bioluminescent flashing activity in the firefly Photuris versicolor (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) J. Expt. Zool. 265:609-612.

Lall, A. B. (1993) Action spectra for the initiation of bioluminescent flashing in males of twilight-active firefly Photinus scintillans (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). J. Insect Physiol. 39:123-127.