James Curley
Associate Professor — Ph.D., University of Cambridge

Contact
- E-mail: curley@utexas.edu
- Office: SEA 5.248
- Office Hours: Fridays 9-11am
Interests
Social Dynamics, Social Neuroscience, Social Networks, R Programming
Biography
Professor Curley is accepting graduate students for admission in Fall 2018. Please contact him directly for more information.
I received my B.A. in Human Sciences at The University of Oxford (UK) in 1999. I was a member and scholar of Somerville College, Oxford. In 2003, I received a PhD in Zoology from the University of Cambridge (UK). My Ph.D research was conducted at the Department of Animal Behaviour, Cambridge, on the effects of imprinted genes on brain and behavioral development, particularly maternal and sexual behavior.
I then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge for four years researching behavioral development, particularly how early life experiences shape individual differences in behavior. I was also the Charles & Katharine Darwin Research Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge.
Following this work I joined the Psychology Department at Columbia University, where I continued to work on the development of social and maternal behavior. From 2012-2017, I was a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. There, I established a research group studying social dynamics and social dominance hierarchies.
Our lab at UT focuses on the neurobiological basis of social behavior in groups, as well as the long-term plastic changes in the brain and peripheral physiology that occur as a consequence of social status. We also are interested in developing novel methods for the study of social hierarchies and networks.
Courses
PSY 418 • Statistics/Research Design
41900-41905 • Spring 2020
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM SEA 2.108
IIQRWr
PSY 418 • Statistics/Research Design
42495-42500 • Spring 2019
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM SEA 2.108
IIQRWr
PSY 394U • R Progrmming Behavioral Sci
43060 • Fall 2018
Meets W 9:00AM-12:00PM SEA 5.106
PSY 418 • Statistics And Research Design
42697-42699 • Spring 2018
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM SEA 2.108
IIQRWr
PSY 394U • R Progrmming Behavioral Sci
43397 • Fall 2017
Meets W 9:00AM-12:00PM SEA 5.106
Publications
Recent Relevant Publications
Williamson C, Lee W & Curley JP, 2016, Temporal Dynamics of Social Hierarchy Formation and Maintenance in Male Mice. Animal Behaviour. 115:259-72.
Curley JP, 2016, Temporal Pairwise-Correlation Analysis Provides Empirical Support for Attention Hierarchies in Mice, Biology Letters. 12(5):20160192.
Williamson C, Franks B & Curley JP, 2016, Mouse Social Network Dynamics and Community Structure are Associated with Brain Plasticity-Related Gene Expression. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 10:152.
Williamson C, Romeo R & Curley JP, 2017, Dynamic changes in social dominance and mPOA GnRH mRNA expression in male mice following social opportunity. Hormones & Behavior. 87:80-88.
Williamson C, Lee W, Romeo R & Curley JP, 2017, Relationships between mouse dominance rank and plasma testosterone and corticosterone are dependent upon social context. Physiology & Behavior. 171:110-119.
Curley JP & Oschner K, 2017, How the brain represents social networks, Nature Human Behavior. 1:0104.
Lee W, Khan A, & Curley JP, 2017, Major urinary protein levels are associated with male social status and social context in mouse social hierarchies. Proceedings Royal Society. B. 284: 20171570.