Biography
Dr. Higley is a professor of psychology at Young University. He received his Ph.D. in Child Development and Primate Behavior from the University of Wisconsin. For nearly two decades, Dr. Higley headed the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s intramural nonhuman primate research program, located just outside of Washington, DC. Dr. Higley is recognized as an international expert in nonhuman primates, serotonin-mediated temperament and personality, addiction, and other forms of developmental psychopathology. More recently has received a good deal of interest for his teams’ discovery that genes that modulate behavior function differently depending on the environmental setting. His latest new research focuses on prenatal exposure to testosterone and its effects on behavior, publishing the first paper on 2D:4D finger ratio in nonhuman primates.
Research Interests
Professor Higley is recognized as an international expert in serotonin-mediated temperament and personality, and developmental psychopathology. His research uses rhesus macaques to model features of human alcohol abuse and alcoholism and their related behaviors and biochemistry. The studies have focused on the development of neurobiological mechanisms, as mediated by early experience and genetic influences. The importance of mothers in development is primary to his research focus. Secondary measures such as temperament, and other behavioral measures are used as early life predictors of alcohol abuse, violence, and anxiety. Included in this program is the use of a large database of various behavior, rearing, genetic and neurochemical measures that are to assess the behavioral outcomes and early predictors of alcohol intake and violent behavior. His latest new research focuses on prenatal exposure to testosterone and its effects on behavior, publishing the first paper on 2D:4D finger ratio in nonhuman primates. Ongoing research performed at the University of California National Primate Center allows students to act as summer interns collecting data from the monkeys. Neuroimaging and other traditional approaches are used to study the brain of the monkeys prone to excessive alcohol intake. A major aspect of the research is based on he and his colleagues discovery that genes that modulate behavior function differently depending on the environmental. This focus on gene X environment interactions, has led to research on how genetic influences are modulated by parents, situations, sex, and the genotype of a partner. His publications focus on the effect of parental treatment and genetic influences on alcohol abuse, violence, impulsivity, and individual differences. Recent studies have been initiated to design a nonhuman primate model of ADHD.Teaching Interests
Dr. Higley left his position at the NIH largely because he missed his interactions with the students and teaching. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Brigham Young University, including, 111-Introductory Psychology, 320-Developmental Psychology, Psychology 381-Behavioral Neuroscience and his favorite, Psychology, 387-Primate Behavior. Dr. Higley especially enjoys the mentoring process and has developed two Internships for the student that provide "hands-on" research experiences, analyzing actual research data, and providing opportunities to study nonhuman primate behavior in actual research settings.Honors and Awards
- Promotion to Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2008 - Present)
- Nominated to run for the office of Executive Secretary, American Society of Primatology, American Society of Primatology (2010 - 2010)
- Nominated to Run for the office of Treasurer, American Society of Primatology, American Society of Primatology (2005 - 2005)
Memberships
- Mormon History Association (2010 - Present)
- Research Society on Alcoholism (2007 - Present)
- American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (1997 - Present)
- American Society of Primatologists (1986 - Present)
- Society for Neuroscience (2000 - 2012)
Professional Citizenship
- Editorial Review Board Member, Journal - Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders (2021 - Present)
- Board Member, Translational Developmental Psychiatry (2021 - Present)
- Other, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2018 - Present)
- Committee/Council Member, American Society of Primatology-Publications Committee (2016 - Present)
- Committee/Council Member, American Society of Primatology-Publications Committee (2016 - Present)
- Editorial Review Board Member, Journal - Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders (2010 - Present)
- Committee/Council Member, American Society of Primatology-Media & Information Committee (2010 - Present)
- Committee/Council Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2021 - 2021)
- Committee/Council Chair, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2020 - 2021)
- Committee/Council Chair, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2019 - 2021)
- Grant Proposal Reviewer, External, National Institutes of Health, NCRR (2020 - 2020)
- Committee/Council Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology-Ethics Committee (2012 - 2017)
- Committee/Council Chair, American Society of Primatology-Publications Committee (2010 - 2016)
- Committee/Council Member, NIH, NCRR Primate Center Review Team-Seattle Review (2012 - 2012)
- Committee/Council Member, NIH, NCRR Primate Center Review Team-Tulane National Primate Center Review (2012 - 2012)
- Grant Proposal Reviewer, External, National Institutes of Health (2011 - 2011)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, ORCA Grant Reviewers (2010 - 2011)
- Committee/Council Chair, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology-Animal Research Committee (2010 - 2010)
- Committee/Council Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology-Finance Committee (2010 - 2010)
- Grant Proposal Reviewer, External, National Institutes of Health (2010 - 2010)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, (2010 - 2010)
- Committee/Council Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology-Finance Commitee (2009 - 2009)
- Committee/Council Member, American Society of Primatology-Finance Committee (2009 - 2009)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, ORCA Grant Reviewers (2009 - 2009)