Young Larry James

Dr. Larry J. Young, PhD is Director of the Center for Translational Social Neuroscience and of the Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition at Emory University in Atlanta. He is also William P. Timmie Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine and chief of the Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders at Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Dr. Young has published over 200 peer reviewed publications, including in premier journals such as Science, and Nature. Dr. Young earned his B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Georgia, and earned his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Young joined the Emory faculty in 1996. Dr. Young has most recently joined the Faculty of Human Health at the University of Tsukuba, and in collaboration with Dr. Sonoko Ogawa established a new Center for Social Neural Networks.
Dr. Young’s research seeks to understand how the brain functions to regulate social relationships. His research has revealed that brain chemicals such as oxytocin and vasopressin regulate the neural processing of social information and promote the formation of social bonds by acting in specific neural pathways. Much of his research uses socially monogamous prairie voles as a model organism. His lab in Japan focuses on mice to understand how oxytocin influences the neural circuits regulating social beahvior His work is providing insights into novel treatments for social disorders such as autim.