Champagne Lab

Dr James P. Curley

I completed my undergraduate degree in Human Sciences at Somerville College, Oxford University in 1999. In 2003 I finished my PhD in Zoology at the Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Barry Keverne. I then completed a four year Leverhulme Post-Doctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge working with Prof. Sir Pat Bateson. Between 2005-2007 I was the Charles & Katherine Darwin Research Fellow at Darwin College, University of Cambridge. I am currently a Research Scientist at Columbia University.

Parent-of-Origin Effects on Behavior

I am interested in the mechanisms through which mothers and fathers are able to differentially influence the behavioral development of their offspring. Such parent-of-origin effects can be observed in reciprocal hybrid mice between parental strains that typically differ in their behavior. One major source of these effects is genomic imprinting, an epigenetic mechanism that regulates the expression of genes dependent upon the sex of the individual passing on the allele. I have shown in collaboration with Prof Barry Keverne, University of Cambridge, that such paternally expressed genes regulate maternal care, pup behavior, feeding, and sexual behavior. I am currently researching other epigenetic mechanisms through which fathers and mothers have unique influences over their offspring's development.

Curley JP, Barton SC, Surani AM & Keverne EB, 2004, Co-adaptation in mother and infant regulated by a paternally expressed imprinted gene, Proc Roy Soc Ser B 271: 1303-1309

Swaney WT, Curley JP, Champagne FA & Keverne EB, 2007, Genomic imprinting mediates sexual experience-dependent olfactory learning in male mice, PNAS 104: 6084-6089

Champagne FA, Curley JP, Swaney WT, Hasen N & Keverne EB, 2009, Paternal influence on female behavior: The role of Peg3 in exploration, olfaction and neuroendocrine regulation of maternal behavior of female mice, Behav Neuro 123: 469-480.

Epigenetic regulation of Behavior

Early life experiences can have long-term effects on the adult behavior of individuals. I am interested in how variations in the prenatal environment, maternal care and early social interactions influence the development of rodent offspring's reproductive, social, emotional and exploratory behavior. Mechanistically, these behavioral changes can result from alterations in the expression of various neuronendocrine receptors and neurons. We are also investigating how these changes in turn may be the result of modifications to the epigenetic status of specific gene promoters.

Keverne EB & Curley JP, 2008, Epigenetics, brain evolution and behaviour, Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology.

Champagne FA & Curley JP, 2009, Epigenetic mechanisms mediating the long-term effects of maternal care on development, Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 33: 593-600

Trans-generational inheritance of behavior

I also research how behavioral traits may be passed down several generations through non-genetic mechanisms. For instance, as maternal care influences the maternal care that her daughter displays when older, this behavior and others that it influences may be passed trans-generationally. Other trans- generational maternal effects may be mediated via prenatal factors or a combination of pre- and postnatal environments. Moreover, I am currently researching how paternal influences on behavioral development can be trans-generationally inherited.

Curley JP, Davidson S, Bateson P, & Champagne FA, (in press), Social enrichment during postnatal development induces transgenerational effects on emotional and reproductive behavior in mice, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

Curley JP, Champagne FA, Bateson P & Keverne EB, 2008, Transgenerational effects of impaired maternal care on behaviour of offspring and grandoffspring. Animal Behaviour 75: 1551-1561.

Alter MD, Gilani AI, Champagne FA, Curley JP, Turner JB. & Hen R, 2009, Paternal transmission of complex phenotypes in inbred mice. Biological Psychiatry.

Individual differences in Behavior

Individual animals can differ consistently and stably in their behavior across time and contexts. I am particularly interested in the developmental and mechanistic origins of stable differences in maternal and exploratory behaviors. For instance, we are currently dissociating the neural mechanisms that regulate how a dam may show high levels of care in one domain of maternal behavior but low levels in another domain. I am also investigating how variations in the later periods of maternal care lead to stable individual differences in offspring behavior.

Champagne FA, Curley JP, Bateson PPG & Keverne EB, 2007, Natural variations in postpartum maternal care in inbred and outbred mice. Physiology & Behavior 91: 325-334

Curley JP, Jordan E, Swaney WT, Izraelit A, Kammel S & Champagne FA, 2009, The Meaning of Weaning: Influence of the Weaning Period on Behavioral Development in Mice, Developmental Neuroscience 31: 318-331.

The evolution of the mammalian social brain

I have argued that the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying social bonding in mammals have been built upon those that originally evolved to regulate maternal care. Moreover, during the transition from small-brained animals to larger-brained primates there have been shifts in the sensory modalities regulating social bonding as well as an emancipation from it being under hormonal control to a more cognitive control.

Curley JP & Keverne EB, 2005, Genes, Brains and Mammalian Social Bonds, Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20(10): 561-7

Broad KD, Curley JP & Keverne EB, 2006, Mother-infant bonding and the evolution of mammalian social relationships, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. 361: 2199-2214

Mother-infant attachment

In collaboration with Dr Joan Stevenson-Hinde at the University of Cambridge, I have been researching the interaction between parental anxiety and depression, mother-infant attachment and child outcomes in a community sample.

Stevenson-Hinde J, Curley JP, Chicot R & Jóhannsson C, 2007, Anxiety within families: Consistency and change across time. Family Process 46: 543-556

Lab Members

• Prof Frances Champagne
• Dr James Curley
• Dr Tara Craft
• Dr Zoe Donaldson
• Students

Links

• Columbia Neuroscience
• Psychology Department
• Columbia University

Contact information

Columbia University
Department of Psychology
406 Schermerhorn Hall
1190 Amsterdam Ave
New York
NY 10027

tel:212 854-2490

fax:212 854-3609

email: Dr James Curley