Robert Liu, PhD

Professor, Department of Biology
Emory University

Biography

Dr. Robert Liu's Computational Neuroethology lab investigates the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying natural social behaviors. He and his research team are interested in questions ranging from how neural circuits transform social cues into behavioral responses, what plasticity arises within those circuits as the meaning of social cues is acquired and how plasticity may be mediated by mechanisms driving social reward. They pursue these issues using two model systems where forms of learning occur in natural social contexts. The first is acoustic communication in mice, using a maternal model wherein mothers acquire recognition for the ultrasonic vocalizations of pups. The second system is social bonding in prairie voles, working closely with Dr. Larry Young and his lab at the Emory National Primate Research Center.