Larry James Young

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 Primate Research Center.  Dr. Young received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of Georgia and earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Zoology at the University of Texas in Austin.  Dr. Young has published over 160 peer reviewed publication, including in top tier journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Genetics, PNAS and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.  He is currently the President of the ACSFN and President-Elect of the Society for Social Neuroscience.

Dr. Young’s research seeks to understand how the brain functions to regulate social relationships and how diversity in social behavior is achieved.. 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. By understanding how the chemistry of the brain promotes the formation of social relationships, Dr. Young hopes to develop novel treatments for the social deficits in psychiatric disorders such as autism.

Young’s new book, The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction (2012) explores the latest discoveries of how brain chemistry influences all aspects of our relationships with others.