James Curley

Dr. Curley has very broad interests in behavioral development. He has conducted and published research at molecular, systems, organismal and evolutionary levels of analysis in both animals and humans.
The focus of Dr. Curley’s lab at Columbia is on the development of social behavior. Dr. Curley is 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. He also researches 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. Dr Curley believes 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.