Research Interests
Social attachment
Learning and memory
Social memory
Research Description
The Long Lab investigates the neural and neuroendocrine mechanisms that regulate social bonds between family, friends, and mates. Using the socially monogamous prairie vole as a model, we combine neural recordings, molecular genetics, and detailed behavioral analyses to understand how the brain encodes social identity and transforms recognition into emotional states and behavior. Our ongoing work integrates genomics and neural circuit manipulations to examine how the hippocampus — a region critical for social memory — contributes to pair bonding. Ultimately, we aim to uncover fundamental principles of how the brain forms and maintains social attachments, informing new approaches to address social impairments associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Education
Postdoctoral fellowship, University of California, San Francisco
Ph.D. Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley
B.S. Biology, Indiana University
Additional Campus Affiliations
Assistant Professor, Psychology
External Links
Recent Publications
Long, K. L. P., Muroy, S. E., Sorooshyari, S. K., Ko, M. J., Jaques, Y., Mohan, K., Sudmant, P., & Kaufer, D. (2025). Transcriptomic profiles of susceptibility and resilience to stress in the amygdala and hippocampus of male rats. Neurobiology of Stress, 38, Article 100754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2025.100754
Breton, J. M., Eisner, J. S., Gandhi, V. S., Musick, N., Zhang, A., Long, K. L. P., Perloff, O. S., Hu, K. Y., Pham, C. M., Lalchandani, P., Barraza, M. K., Kantor, B., Kaufer, D., & Ben-Ami Bartal, I. (2022). Neural activation associated with outgroup helping in adolescent rats. iScience, 25(6), Article 104412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104412
Wang, S., Long, K. L. P., & Manoli, D. S. (2022). From mating to mama bear: Distinct VMHvl cell types drive female reproductive state-dependent behavior. Neuron, 110(5), 737-739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.02.007
Bartal, I. B. A., Breton, J. M., Sheng, H., Long, K. L. P., Chen, S., Halliday, A., Kenney, J. W., Wheeler, A. L., Frankland, P., Shilyansky, C., Deisseroth, K., Keltner, D., & Kaufer, D. (2021). Neural correlates of ingroup bias for prosociality in rats. eLife, 10, Article e65582. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65582
Breton, J. M., Long, K. L. P., Barraza, M. K., Perloff, O. S., & Kaufer, D. (2021). Hormonal Regulation of Oligodendrogenesis II: Implications for Myelin Repair. Biomolecules, 11(2), 1-26. Article 290. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom11020290