Amir Levine, MD
- Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Overview
Dr. Levine's research examines how one experience is registered in the brain to shape the response to experiences that follow. His molecular work focused on metaplasticity and epigenetic priming: how exposures such as nicotine, early life stress, or social isolation produce lasting chromatin-level changes that alter the brain's response to subsequent drugs, stressors, and treatments, and how the developing brain uniquely responds to environmental change. His findings in this area have been patented, and he conducted translational biomarker studies extending these questions to humans.
His current research applies the same principle to human relationships. Through the SecureLab, Dr. Levine studies how relational experiences across the lifespan, including everyday interactions, shape attachment security, and how attachment can be measured and modified. The lab has extended the ECR-RS (Fraley et al., 2011), a widely used self-report attachment measure, into an attachment styles assessment spanning multiple relationship targets, freely available in more than 29 languages. Dr. Levine has developed Secure Priming Therapy, a structured clinical framework for increasing attachment security, and is currently evaluating it through systematic study, with a particular focus on adolescence and young adulthood, when attachment insecurity peaks. The SecureLab is developing coursework and training to increase secure relating in youth.
Dr. Levine graduated from residency in adult and child psychiatry at NYP/Columbia University/NYSPI and specialized in molecular neuroscience under the mentorship of Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel. He is among a handful of child psychiatrists trained in both clinical and molecular approaches to studying normal and pathological human development. He co-leads the Developmental Neuroscience course for second-year CAP residents.
Dr. Levine is the co-author of the international bestseller Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love, which translated self-report attachment style research from academic social psychology into a practical tool for clinical work and everyday life, giving rise to a new field of practice focused on adult attachment styles. The book has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, has been translated into more than 42 languages, and is widely used by psychologists, therapists, and coaches. His second book, Secure: The Revolutionary Guide to Creating a Secure Life (2026), is currently being translated into 29 languages. He also teaches The Science of Connection on MasterClass.
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Administrative Titles
- Director, Levine Laboratory for Social-Developmental Neuroscience
Gender
- Male
Research
I study how one experience is registered in the brain to shape the response to experiences that follow. My molecular work focused on metaplasticity and epigenetic priming, including how the adolescent brain uniquely responds to environmental stimuli to shape affective and addictive outcomes in adulthood, and on molecular mechanisms of resilience. My current research through the SecureLab applies these principles to human attachment: how relational experiences across the lifespan shape attachment security, how attachment can be measured across multiple relationship targets, and how security can be increased through structured clinical intervention, with a particular focus on adolescence and young adulthood.
Selected Publications
Levine AA, Guan Z, Barco A, Xu S, Kandel ER, Schwartz JH: CREB-binding protein controls response to cocaine by acetylating histones at the fosB promoter in the mouse striatum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005;102(52): 19186-91
Levine A, Worrell TR, Zimnisky R, Schmauss C: Early life stress triggers sustained changes in histone deacetylase expression and histone H4 modifications that alter responsiveness to adolescent antidepressant treatment. Neurobiol Dis 2012;45(1): 488-98
Colnaghi L, Clemenza K, Groleau SE, Weiss S, Snyder AM, Lopez-Rosas M, Levine AA: Social involvement modulates the response to novel and adverse life events in mice. PLoS One 2016;11(9): e0163077
Clemenza K, Weiss SH, Cheslack K, Kandel DB, Kandel ER, Levine AA: Social isolation is closely linked to a marked reduction in physical activity in male mice. J Neurosci Res 2021;99(4): 1099-1107
Levine A, Clemenza K, Rynn M, Lieberman J: Evidence for the risks and consequences of adolescent cannabis exposure. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2017;56(3): 214-225
Strawn JR, Lu L, Peris TS, Levine A, Walkup JT: Research Review: Pediatric anxiety disorders - what have we learnt in the last 10 years? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2021;62(2): 114-139
For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov