Larry Young, PhD (In Memoriam)
Editor's Note: Dr. Young unexpectedly passed away in March 21, 2024. He was devoted to his family, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, and his research to understand how the brain functions to generate complex behaviors in animals. He was especially well-known for his research examining the mechanisms underlying pair bond formation in monogamous prairie voles. The Emory community mourns his passing, cherishes memories of time spent working with and learning from him, and recognizes his inestimable contributions to science and shaping the way we think about social functioning, including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Read the memorial article about Dr. Young here.
Biography through Early March 2024
Larry Young, PhD, Chief of the Emory National Primate Research Center Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders and William P. Timmie Professor in the School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, studied biochemistry at the University of Georgia. After becoming excited about the possibility of making new discoveries for understanding the complexities of life at the molecular level, he decided to dedicate his career to understanding how the brain functions to generate complex behaviors in animals. Dr. Young completed his graduate training in zoology and received his doctorate from the University of Texas. He then moved to Emory University for his postdoctoral training and was promoted to faculty in the Department of Psychiatry, Emory School of Medicine, in 1996.
Dr. Young's research focuses on understanding the genetic and neurobiological mechanisms underlying complex social behaviors, including social bonding and social attachments. He is well-known for his research examining the mechanisms underlying pair bond formation in monogamous prairie voles. His studies have highlighted the roles of oxytocin and vasopressin in regulating social behavior. This work has important implications for psychiatric disorders characterized by disruption in social cognition, including autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. Dr. Young's lab is now using this basic understanding of social cognition to identify novel drugs to treat social deficits in psychiatric disorders.
Dr. Young has established three centers while at Emory:
He is the Director of the Center for Translational Social Neuroscience (CTSN) at Emory. CTSN investigators at the Emory Primate Center, Emory School of Medicine, Emory College and the Marcus Autism Center are seeking to understand the basic neurobiology and genetics of social behavior, including social bonding, cooperation and social reciprocity. The researchers are also focused on psychiatric disorders characterized by impaired social function, including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Center researchers are striving not only to better understand the social brain, but also to develop new treatment strategies for improving social functioning in autism and schizophrenia.
Dr. Young is also the Principal Investigator and Director of the NIH-funded Silvio O. Conte Center at Emory; the grant has provided $22 million for research during the last 10 years. The goal of Conte Center research is to use cutting-edge technologies, including neuroimaging, CRISPR gene editing and optogenetics, in research with rodents, nonhuman primates and humans to understand more precisely the way oxytocin acts in the brain, including its role in neural communication and social functioning.
Most recently, Dr. Young established the Center for Social Neural Networks at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Under Dr. Young's leadership, the center is fostering international collaborations to understand the social brain in even greater detail. The center significantly expands the reach of Young's leadership and impact in the field of social neuroscience into Asia and involves faculty based at institutions across Japan. Young will also mentor a research team at the University of Tsukuba exploring the precise brain circuits of social functioning using genetically engineered mice.
Dr. Young is past president of the international Society for Social Neuroscience (S4SN), which promotes the integration of research on social neuroscience in animal models with human research.
In 2014, Dr. Young was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, he received the Daniel H. Efron award for Excellence in Research in Neuropsychopharmacology by the American College of Neuropshchopharmacology.
In summer 2012, Dr. Young spent two weeks in Dharamsala, India, teaching neuroscience to Tibetan monks as part of the Robert A. Paul Emory-Tibet Science Initiative.
Dr. Young's first book, The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction, presents a unified theory of how love, sex and human social bonding is created in our brains, how that creation drives our behavior, and how these mechanisms fit into social, historical and political contexts.
Dr. Young is a frequent speaker and often interviewed by media worldwide. See the links below for some of his interviews:
- Your Fantastic Mind, Season 3 opener, "Love Georgia Public Broadcasting
- Science can cure heartbreak in voles, but what about in humans?
- The Pulse, WHYY (PBS)
- Love in a Nasal Spra The Science Show, ABC Radio, Australia
- Vole love and Fidelity
- BBC
- SmartDrugSmarts podcast
Publication Citations on Google Scholar