Behavioral Neuroscience & Development

I have very broad interests in behavioral development. I have conducted and published research at molecular, systems, organismal and evolutionary levels of analysis in both animals and humans. Details of some of this work will be found on the research page in due course.

The focus of my lab at Columbia is on the development of social behavior. Briefly, I am interested in how both inherited genetic variability and social experiences during development can shift individual differences in various aspects of social behavior and what the neuroendocrinological basis of these differences may be. I am also interested in the reliability and validity of social behavioral tests conducted in the laboratory and whether it is possible to utilize alternative statistical and methodological approaches to more appropriately assess social behavior. I also believe that it is critical to understand how the 'social brains' of humans and other animals have been differentially shaped by evolution and to acknowledge how this should better inform translational research.

Curley JP, 2011, Is there a genomically imprinted social brain?, BioEssays 33: 662-8.

Curley JP, Jensen CL, Mashoodh R & Champagne FA, 2011, Social influences on neurobiology and behavior: Epigenetic effects during development, Psychoneuroendocrinology 36: 352-371.

Curley JP, Davidson S, Bateson P, & Champagne FA, 2009, Social enrichment during postnatal development induces transgenerational effects on emotional and reproductive behavior in mice, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 3(25): 1-14.

 

• PSYCH W3470 Brain Evolution: Becoming Human
• PSYCH W3615 Children at Risk (seminar)